October 11, 2018 — An underwater cable proposed by offshore energy company Vineyard Wind will pose less of a threat to marine resources if it makes landfall at a Centerville beach instead of traveling through Lewis Bay, according to state fisheries officials.
“To avoid and minimize marine resource impacts, Covell’s Beach is a better choice,” Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries Director David Pierce wrote in a letter last week to Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton.
The Oct. 3 letter reviews new information contained in a 1,111-page supplemental draft environmental impact report that Vineyard Wind filed in August with the Energy and Environmental Affairs. The supplemental report follows up on an earlier draft issued in April, and includes more detailed information about two possible landing sites for the 800-megawatt cable that will connect the company’s turbines southwest of Martha’s Vineyard with the electrical grid: New Hampshire Avenue in West Yarmouth and at Covell Beach in Centerville.
Although the company’s initial filings — including the supplemental report — listed New Hampshire Avenue as its preferred landing site, a host community agreement signed by Vineyard Wind and the town of Barnstable last week stipulates that Covell Beach is now the preferred site.
Beaton is chairman of the state’s Energy Facilities Siting Board, which will decide where the cable comes onshore after considering reliability, environmental impacts and costs, according to its website. The board began a monthlong hearing on the issue last week, and is expected to announce its decision in April.
Because the decision on where to site the cable rests with the board, Vineyard Wind is still pursuing both locations.
Bringing the cable onshore at New Hampshire Avenue could pose a threat to numerous marine resources, according to Pierce’s letter.
“New Hampshire Avenue, within Lewis Bay, will potentially impact shellfish beds, a depuration area, bay scallop habitat, and a mooring field,” the letter says. A depuration area is a location used to cleanse or purify seafood.