PORTSMOUTH — A resolution to oppose the installation of the Mayflower Wind transmission cable in the Sakonnet River was on Monday’s agenda for a vote by the Town Council, but no action was taken.

Instead, the council voted unanimously to table the matter until its next meeting on the suggestion of Keith Hamilton, who had placed the resolution on the agenda.

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The town’s attorneys, Hamilton said, need to “massage this” further before it comes before the council for a vote.

The current language of the resolution states that while Portsmouth “has been a leader in the renewable energy production as the first municipal wind turbine in Rhode Island,” there are still too many concerns regarding the Mayflower project for the town to support the plan.

The resolution also contended that the cable route could disrupt two other existing supply lines to Aquidneck Island.

“The current design of the Mayflower submarine cable has not had a full environmental study completed to assess the impact of the cable on marine life, fishing industry and the environment in our protect wetlands,” the resolution stated. “Aquidneck Island has only one natural gas pipeline feeding the island that crosses the intended path of the Mayflower cable and the Island’s back-up water supply also crosses the path of the proposed cable.”

At the Aug. 9 council meeting, Hamilton expressed concerns over the cable route’s potential impact on the gas and water pipelines located in the Sakonnet River. He pointed to the natural gas outage several years ago which led National Grid to install a controversial backup facility in a residential area on Old Mill Lane.

The resolution concluded by stating the council request the denial of the “Mayflower application until such time that full environmental study of the entire cable length can be conducted and a secondary natural gas pipeline can be installed on the Northern end of Aquidneck Island to safely protect the supply onto the island.”  

Also on Monday night, the council voted unanimously during an executive session before the public portion of the meeting to retain legal and consulting services associated with the Mayflower project proceedings before the EFSB.

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