East Hampton Advances Offshore Wind Project

Long Island Construction Law does not own this content. This content was created by David Winzelberg and was published to the Long Island Business News on Jan 22, 2021.

The Town of East Hampton has approved an easement to site the transmission cable needed for a massive offshore wind power installation. The project proposed by South Fork Wind would create an array of wind turbines to be located about 30 miles off the coast that is expected to produce 9,000 megawatts of energy.

The wind turbines will be connected to a substation by a subterranean cable installed through property at the end of Beach Lane in Wainscott.

The Host Community Agreement for the project provides $28.9 million over its lifetime to benefit East Hampton residents, including direct payments to the town and town property taxes on the onshore infrastructure that will provide an additional $4 million.

With the agreement comes a commitment to maintain access to Wainscott Beach during construction, a commitment to limit construction activities to off-season months, a fisheries compensation plan and construction monitoring requirements.

Labor leaders applauded the town’s action.

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“Finding the best route to navigate past obstacles in your way only works when you engage in collaboration and transparency,” Matthew Aracich, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Nassau and Suffolk Counties, said in a written statement. “Supervisor Van Scoyoc and the town board members should be commended for taking effective action on addressing climate change. With board approval of the transmission cable route, now secure in East Hampton, offshore wind is poised to fulfill the promise of providing Long Island with a steady supply of reliable, carbon free power. Bold initiatives like these create meaningful jobs, combat low diversity levels and advance the scope of reducing emissions from Manhattan to Montauk.”

Mariah Dignan, Long Island organizer for Climate Jobs NY, said the town’s actions are momentum-drivers for responsible offshore wind development. “Supervisor Van Scoyoc and the town board demonstrated their leadership by taking action on the climate crisis and set the stage for a robust offshore wind industry in New York that will create thousands of good union jobs and invest tens of millions into our community,” Dignan said in the statement.

 

John Caravella Esq., is a construction attorney and formerly practicing project architect at The Law Office of John Caravella, P.C., representing architects, engineers, contractors, subcontractors, and owners in all phases of contract preparation, litigation, and arbitration across New York and Florida. He also serves as an arbitrator to the American Arbitration Association Construction Industry Panel. Mr. Caravella can be reached by email: John@LIConstructionLaw.com or (631) 608-1346.

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Long Island Construction Law does not own this content. This content was created by David Winzelberg and was published to the Long Island Business News on Jan 22, 2021.