Alternative Energy Draft EA - NASA Visitor Center at Wallops Flight ...

Proposed Action
Aboveground Resources
Environmental Consequences
Utility-scale turbines: Because specific guidelines for Section 106 review of wind turbine
projects have not yet been developed in Virginia, the VDHR Section 106 guidance on cell towers
was used to determine the APE. This guidance recommends an APE for cell towers of 61 meters
(200 feet) or more in height that extends 3.2 kilometers (2 miles) from the cell tower to account
primarily for indirect visual effects. Because wind turbines are similar to cell towers in terms of
their potential for visual impact, this 3.2-kilometer (2-mile) APE was used to determine effects
on historic properties for the two utility-scale turbines.
No identified historic properties within the APE would be directly affected by construction of the
two utility-scale turbines under the Proposed Action. The utility-scale turbines would have
indirect visual effects on the two NRHP-eligible resources identified within the APE—the
Wallops Coast Guard Lifesaving Station and its associated Coast Guard Observation Tower.
A digital rendering of the projected viewshed from the historic properties toward the utility-scale
turbines indicates that, although the wind turbines would be approximately 2.7 kilometers (1.7
miles) away, they would still be partially visible from the Wallops Coast Guard Lifesaving
Station. However, the visual impact would be minimal. Since the 1940s, the setting and feeling
of the Wallops Coast Guard Lifesaving Station and Observation Tower have been compromised
by the construction of numerous utilitarian buildings and structures associated with the Navy, the
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, and NASA development. Among these is the
ASR 8 Radar, a 24-meter (79-foot) structure located immediately adjacent to the Wallops Coast
Guard Lifesaving Station. Given this context, the construction of the utility-scale turbines 2.7
kilometers (1.7 miles) from the Wallops Coast Guard Lifesaving Station and Observation Tower
would not have an adverse effect on these historic properties.
Eighty unevaluated resources exist within the APE, 13 of which are over 50 years of age. Some
of these 13 may be found to be eligible for listing in the NRHP once they are evaluated; if so,
construction of the proposed wind turbines would have an indirect visual effect on them.
However, these unevaluated resources are also associated with the Navy, the National Advisory
Committee for Aeronautics, or the NASA development of the area after 1942 and are utilitarian
in nature. The portions of the APE in which the built resources are located are currently
characterized by numerous towers, test stands, and antennae from various periods of
construction. Given this context, the construction of the utility-scale turbines is not likely to have
an adverse effect on the setting or feeling of any yet-to-be identified NRHP-eligible resources, if
present, in the APE.
The utility-scale turbine component of Alternative One is anticipated to have no adverse effect
on historic properties outside of WFF, should they be present, given the nature of the existing
viewshed to WFF. The majority of the facilities at WFF exhibit rooftop radar antennas, beacons,
heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, cooling towers, and other industrial
equipment, and the presence at WFF of numerous towers, including elevated water storage tanks,
boresight, meteorological, and radio equipment platforms.
Residential-scale turbines: Because the exact locations of the residential-scale wind turbines
have not yet been determined, a precise APE for this component has also not been determined.
Per the Federal Communications Commission’s Nationwide Programmatic Agreement for
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