Commonwealth of Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board
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COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS ENERGY FACILITIES SITING BOARD ) Petition of Vineyard Wind LLC Pursuant to G.L. c. ) 164, § 69J for Approval to Construct, Operate, and ) Maintain Transmission Facilities in Massachusetts ) for the Delivery of Energy from an Offshore Wind ) EFSB 20-01 Energy Facility Located in Federal Waters to an ) NSTAR Electric (d/b/a Eversource Energy) ) Substation Located in the Town of Barnstable, ) Massachusetts. ) ) ) Petition of Vineyard Wind LLC Pursuant to G.L. c. ) 40A, § 3 for Exemptions from the Operation of the ) Zoning Ordinance of the Town of Barnstable for ) the Construction and Operation of New Transmission Facilities for the Delivery of Energy ) D.P.U. 20-56 from an Offshore Wind Energy Facility Located in ) Federal Waters to an NSTAR Electric (d/b/a. ) Eversource Energy) Substation Located in the ) Town of Barnstable, Massachusetts. ) ) ) Petition of Vineyard Wind LLC Pursuant to G.L. c. ) 164, § 72 for Approval to Construct, Operate, and ) Maintain Transmission Lines in Massachusetts for ) the Delivery of Energy from an Offshore Wind ) D.P.U 20-57 Energy Facility Located in Federal Waters to an ) NSTAR Electric (d/b/a Eversource Energy) ) Substation Located in the Town of Barnstable, ) Massachusetts. ) ) AFFIDAVIT OF AARON LANG I, Aaron Lang, Esq., do depose and state as follows: 1. I make this affidavit of my own personal knowledge. 2. I am an attorney at Foley Hoag LLP, counsel for Vineyard Wind LLC (“Vineyard Wind”) in this proceeding before the Energy Facilities Siting Board. 3. On September 16, 2020, the Presiding Officer issued a letter to Vineyard Wind containing translation, publication, posting, and service requirements for the Notice of Adjudication and Public Comment Hearing (“Notice”) and the Notice of Public Comment Hearing Please Read Document (“Please Read Document”) in the above-captioned proceeding. That letter contained two versions of the Notice: (1) a longer version (which has a project-area map) to be used for abutter notification (“Abutter Notice”); and (2) a shorter version (without a map) to be used for Newspaper publication (“Newspaper Notice”). 4. On September 16, 2020, the firm Consortra Translations provided to Vineyard Wind finalized Portuguese translations of the Abutter Notice and the Please Read Document. Once translated, and in compliance with the September 16, 2020 letter issued by the Presiding Officer, the required Portuguese translation of a specified paragraph was included in the Newspaper Notice. 5. On or before September 18, 2020, Vineyard Wind posted copies of the Abutter Notice and Please Read documents (both with Portuguese translations), and the Petitions and Attachments1 on Vineyard Wind’s website at https://www.parkcitywind.com/permitting. Electronic copies of the Petitions and Attachments will remain available for public review on Vineyard Wind’s website until evidentiary proceedings have concluded and a final written decision has been issued. 6. On September 21, 2020, the Abutter Notice and Please Read Document (both with Portuguese translations) and the Petitions and Attachments were sent electronically to the Town Clerk’s offices of the Town of Barnstable, Town of Edgartown, Town of Mashpee, and Town of Nantucket.2 On September 21, 2020, I and a colleague at Foley Hoag followed up with the Town Clerk’s offices via telephone confirming the receipt of the electronic copies of the documents listed above. The clerks were requested to post the Abutter Notice and Please Read Document—in its English and Portuguese versions—on their Towns’ websites in a prominent location no later than September 23, 2020 and until the close of the intervention period, October 28, 2020, and they were also requested to post copies 1 The Petitions and Attachments are: (1) Vineyard Wind’s petition to construct, filed pursuant to G.L. c. 164, § 69J; (2) its petition for approval pursuant to G.L. c. 164, § 72; and (3) its petition for zoning exemptions pursuant to G.L. c. 40A, § 3, and all Attachments to those three Petitions, filed with the Siting Board on May 28, 2020. 2 Electronic copies of the Petitions and Attachments on USB drives were also sent to the Town Clerk’s offices of the Towns of Barnstable, Edgartown, Mashpee, and Nantucket on May 28, 2020, when Vineyard Wind filed the Petitions and Attachments with the Siting Board and Department of Public Utilities. 2 of the Petitions and Attachments on their Town’s websites in a prominent location, and that the Petitions and Attachments should remain available for public review on the websites until evidentiary hearings in the proceeding have concluded and briefs have been filed. 7. On September 23, 2020, copies of the Abutter Notice and Please Read Document (English and Portuguese versions) were sent by first-class mail by the firm Epsilon Associates Inc. (“Epsilon”) to: (1) the Planning Boards of Barnstable, Edgartown, Mashpee, and Nantucket; and (2) the abutting Planning Boards of Sandwich, Falmouth, Yarmouth, Oak Bluffs, Tisbury, and West Tisbury.3 Also on September 23, 2020, copies of the Abutter Notice and Please Read Document (English and Portuguese versions) were sent by first-class mail by Epsilon to the following town entities in the Towns of Barnstable, Edgartown, Mashpee, and Nantucket: Town Managers, Boards of Selectmen, Zoning Boards of Appeals, Department of Public Works, and Conservation Commissions. Because the Town of Edgartown has no Department of Public Works, the Abutter Notice and Please Read Document (in both languages) were sent instead to the Town of Edgartown’s Highway Department. A list of planning boards and town entities where the Notice and Please Read Document (in both languages) were sent and their addresses can be found at Attachment B. 8. On September 23, 2020, a copy of (1) the Abutter Notice in English and in Portuguese and (2) the Please Read Document in English and in Portuguese were sent by first-class mail by Epsilon to the owners of all property abutting the proposed right-of-way for the preferred routes and noticed alternative routes (including all variations); owners of land directly opposite on any public or private street or way; and abutters to the abutters within 300 feet of the edge of the right-of-way, as those owners appear on the most recent applicable tax list, notwithstanding that the land of any such owner is located in another city or town, including individual owners of residential condominiums. A copy of (1) the Abutter Notice in English and in Portuguese and (2) the Please Read Document in English and in Portuguese were also sent by first-class mail by Epsilon to owners of all property within ½-mile of the proposed substation in Barnstable and the existing West Barnstable Substation. Please find property owners who were sent this mailing, which includes the Barnstable certified abutter list for (1) the Preferred Route, (2) the Alternative Route, and (3) the abutters within ½-mile of 3 Please find a map from the website of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts showing the towns that abut Barnstable, Edgartown, Mashpee, and Nantucket at Attachment A. 3 the proposed substation in Barnstable and existing West Barnstable Substation, at Attachment C. 9. The Newspaper Notice was published in English, which included the required Portuguese paragraph, in the Cape Cod Times and The Barnstable Patriot on September 18, 2020 and September 25, 2020. Please find the corresponding tear sheets at Attachment D. 10. On behalf of Vineyard Wind, and to the best of my knowledge, I have complied with the publication, posting, and service requirements as established by the Presiding Officer in this proceeding. 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