The East Hampton Town Board is expected to vote tonight on a resolution authorizing Orsted and Eversource, partners in the proposed South Fork Wind Farm, to conduct survey work for the 15-turbine installation’s transmission cable route in Wainscott.
The companies have identified a subterranean path from a cable landing at the ocean beach at the end of Beach Lane in Wainscott to a Long Island Power Authority substation in East Hampton as the preferred route.
According to a January statement by an Orsted spokesman, the surveys will include six borings within the town-owned roadway on Beach Lane, the parking lot at the end of Beach Lane, Wainscott Stone Road, and Wainscott Northwest Road. The surveys are expected to be completed no later than May 21.
The developers also seek permission to conduct shovel test pit surveys along the sides of Beach Lane, Wainscott’s Main Street, Sayre’s Path, Wainscott Stone Road, Wainscott Northwest Road, Daniel’s Hole Road, Stephen Hand’s Path, and Buckskill Road. The hand-dug pits are to help determine whether potential archaeological materials are present along the proposed cable route. That effort should be completed within 14 days, the spokesman said.
The surveys will not interfere with road or pedestrian access, he said.
The developers requested authorization to conduct the same survey work one year ago but did not act despite the town board’s 3-to-2 vote to approve the work, a vote that was marked by sharp disagreement. The new request indicates that the developers are moving forward with a plan to land the wind farm’s export cable in Wainscott, a move that has mobilized many of the hamlet’s residents both for and against that site.
Orsted and Eversource have set a timeline that would see the wind farm operational by December 2022.
