Federal officials have agreed to reduce a large section of ocean off Massachusetts being considered for wind energy projects by more than half.
"We have heard significant concerns from the people of Massachusetts and we have acted on those concerns," U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement Director Michael Bromwich said in a statement on the decision released Monday.
The decision cuts a 3,000-square-mile area south of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket that was being considered for offshore wind energy projects to roughly 1,300 square miles.
The majority of the remaining area available to be leased begins southwest of the Vineyard and extends to a location south of Nantucket. The area begins about 14 miles off the coast of the Vineyard and 24 miles south of Nantucket.
Read the complete story from The South Coast Today.