The Laches Doctrine is a legal defense because, for example, abutters to a project waited too long to file complaints. The courts will not take action if an abutter waits an inordinate amount of time.
The Doctrine of Laches was used as a defense in court against removing the two town-owned Falmouth wind turbines. It was argued that the residential abutters of the two town-owned wind turbines waited too long to complain. They should have known the turbines were being built. The turbines were removed in 2022.
Offshore Wind has negotiated with the Town of Falmouth since 2020 for a Host Community Agreement. According to the Mass Energy Facility Board updates are issued every 45 days.
Find out what's happening in Falmouthfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The project requires bypassing Falmouth zoning bylaws to place buried high-voltage cables and build a high-voltage direct current converter plant on the Falmouth aquifer, the Cape Cod sole source aquifer.
To put an HVDC, high voltage direct current converter in perspective they do have accidents. In September 2021 in Sellindge, Kent England the British National Grid HVDC power plant caught fire. This was the high voltage direct current power cables between France and England. The megawatts of the Falmouth HVDC plant can be compared to the English plant.
Find out what's happening in Falmouthfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
A single HVDC power plant is capable of up to 2400 megawatts with 400 megawatts or more battery backups on-site.
Offshore Wind filed A petition with the Massachusetts Energy Facility Siting Board in November 2021. The Energy Facility Siting Board requires:
A. Publish a notice of its proposal to construct the project in at least two newspapers having a reasonable level of circulation within the community or region before the Public Comment Hearing
B. Mail notice to owners of all property within a certain distance of the boundaries of the proposed project; and
C. Post the notice in the city or town halls of communities where the proposed project would be located.
Although the Falmouth HVDC onshore wind project has been temporarily put on hold by the Mass Energy Facility Siting Board the project is proceeding at the grid operator ISO New England.
Hundreds of homes have been bought and sold each year in Falmouth since 2020. Many are unaware of this project.
At some point, the abutters to the streets where high voltage cables and high voltage direct current converter plant will be placed should receive new notifications.
The last meeting with the Falmouth public was June 8, 2022
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# Notes
October 2020 Town of Falmouth and Offshore Wind
https://fileservice.eea.comacloud.net/FileService.Api/file/FileRoom/14205956
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November 2021 Massachusetts Energy Facility Siting Board
https://eeaonline.eea.state.ma.us/DPU/Fileroom/dockets/bynumber/EFSB21-03
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June 2022 Town of Falmouth and Offshore Wind
https://www.falmouthma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/12338/Mayflower-Forum---Mayflower-Pres-2-06082022
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September 2021 Fire HVDC -high voltage direct current power plant Sellindge, Kent, England
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-huge-fire-breaks-out-24987920
