Feds: No significant environmental impact in NC wind leasing

WILMINGTON, NC (AP) — The federal government says it has found there will be no significant environmental or socioeconomics impacts in leasing tracts off the North Carolina coast for the development of wind energy.

The StarNews of Wilmington reports the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is proposing three tracts off the coast for wind energy – one off Kitty Hawk on the Outer Banks and two in the Cape Fear area near Wilmington.

The sites off southeastern North Carolina include a more than 130,000-acre tract south of Bald Head Island and a more-than 50,000-acre tract south of the Brunswick County coast.

The bureau’s North Carolina Renewable Energy Task Force will hold a meeting in Wilmington on Oct. 7 to discuss holding an auction for leasing tracts to wind energy companies.