Leaders of the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe are preparing for a lawsuit after Interior Secretary Ken Salazar refused to discuss a controversial wind farm with them.

The tribe wanted to discuss the recent recommendation by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation to reject the Cape Wind energy project. But Salazar said he won't be having further meetings on the issue.

"Because our government-to-government meeting request with the Department of the Interior to follow up on the ACHP's recommendation will not be honored, we can only reasonably conclude that the Secretary may move ahead with approval of the project.  We are thoroughly disheartened and disappointed with any approval that will cause such a devastating and irreversible effect on this sacred site," Chairwoman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais and Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Bettina Washington said in a press release.

The Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe and the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe say 440-foot turbines that are part of the project will block their view of the sun and disrupt burial grounds and archaeological sites at Nantucket Sound. The ACHP cited the tribe's concerns in recommending the rejection of Cape Wind.

Salazar doesn't have to follow the ACHP panel's recommendation. He expects to make a final decision by the end of this month.

Get the Story:
Tribe Expecting Cape Wind Approval (The Martha's Vineyard Gazette 4/13)
Cape Wind rejection recommended (Indian Country Today 4/12)

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