Criticized for underpublicizing a request for developers to build windmills over more than 2,000 nautical square miles — including parts of the Georges Bank fishing grounds — the federal government has extended the public comment period for the controversial project.
The 30-day extension for public comments on the wind development project off the southern New England coast now expires March 30, according to the Department of Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement.
The locale for the wind energy grid, selected in consultation with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the limited initial notice for the hearings brought complaints from the fishing industry, Congress and the administration of Gov. Deval Patrick.
The complaints noted the overlap of windmill plots on the fish-rich Georges Bank, the Northwest Atlantic's most fertile harvesting water.
Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.