Misguided Opposition

a letter to the editor of the East Hampton Star

September 12, 2020

Dear David,

“If you are in denial about climate change, come to California,” Gov. Gavin Newsome said last month.

Last week on CNN, the president of Colgate University lamented that liberal arts colleges have failed to teach the value of personal sacrifice, or even of enduring a temporary inconvenience, to benefit the collective community. He was speaking of individuals’ resistance to using facemasks and social distancing to help control the spread of Covid-19. But he might as well have been speaking of local resistance to infrastructure essential to the operation of the proposed South Fork Wind Farm.

Beach Lane in Wainscott, and its beautiful beach at the end of the road, have been identified as the preferred site for the onshore transmission line. Underground entry of the cable would be accomplished by utilizing horizontal directional drilling, a proven advanced technology that would bury the cable 30 feet with minimal disturbance to the beach.

Likewise the underground transmission cable along Beach Lane would be underground as is the case with commonplace utility installations all over East Hampton, all over Long Island, and indeed all over the Northeastern United States. All of the construction would be accomplished “off-season” during cold weather months when the beach is less trafficked and many second-home owners are entirely absent.

The energy transported by this cable would provide electricity to 70,000 South Fork homes and businesses, and would offset the carbon emissions equal to taking 65,000 cars off the road. The 15 wind turbines doing this work for us would be 35 miles offshore of Montauk and out of sight.

Opponents to the landing site created a Citizens for the Preservation of Wainscott, who hired attorneys to intervene in opposition to the project before the New York State Public Service Commission. The group is expected to litigate as the project proceeds through this lengthy and rigorous environmental review. More recently the group has launched an effort to create a new village government for Wainscott, which, they hope, could stop the project. But stopping the cable by creating a separate village government is highly unlikely.

The extreme measures undertaken by this group are shockingly disproportionate to the temporary inconvenience they might suffer if the Beach Lane site remains the preferred route for the transmission cable. There are no safety risks here — the emissions from the cable are comparable to standing near your kitchen refrigerator. Environmental concerns are addressed: the State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Town of East Hampton, plus the town trustees are insisting on rigorous environmental protection measures and ongoing oversight.

I am grateful to the town supervisor, town board, and town trustees for their leadership at a moment when there is so much at stake and such well-funded, if misguided, opposition.

Sincerely,

JUDITH HOPE

Win With Wind