Salazar seeks quick resolution of Cape Wind questions

The Interior Department’s long-delayed decision on whether to approve construction of a wind farm in federal waters off the Massachusetts coast has gotten even more complicated.

The National Park Service, a branch of the agency, has found that Nantucket Sound – the planned site – is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar – who has touted the potential for wind energy along the Atlantic Coast – on Monday said he’s now gathering the various parties to quickly seek a final resolution.

The project has faced years of state and federal regulatory review since it was proposed in 2001, and Salazar had hoped to issue a final approval by the end of 2009.

“After several years of review, it is now time to move the Cape Wind proposal to a final decision point. That is why I am gathering the principal parties together next week to consider the findings of the Keeper [of the National Register of Historic Places] and to discuss how we might find a common-sense agreement on actions that could be taken to minimize and mitigate Cape Wind’s potential impacts on historic and cultural resources,” Salazar said in a prepared statement Monday afternoon.

“I am hopeful that an agreement among the parties can be reached by March 1. If an agreement among the parties can’t be reached, I will be prepared to take the steps necessary to bring the permit process to conclusion. The public, the parties, and the permit applicants deserve certainty and resolution,” he added.

The project’s developers have warned that a decision to ultimately list the site in the National Register – sought by two Wampanoag American Indian Tribes – would create even further hurdles to building the proposed 130-turbine project.