Maine lighthouses and offshore wind

The federal government is trying to give away two historic lighthouses on offshore Maine islands, one of which lies near a designated offshore wind testing site.  The two lighthouses - Halfway Rock Light Station and Boon Island Light Station - are located on islands offshore of southern Maine.  To qualify to take either lighthouse for free, applicants must commit to preserving the structures' historical integrity and promoting public access to their islands.

Cuckolds Fog Signal and Light Station off Boothbay Harbor, Maine.  This lighthouse was privatized in 2006 through the same program now seeking to convey two other Maine lighthouses.

Halfway Rock is a 2-acre rock ledge about 10 miles east of Portland Head Light on a 2-acre rock ledge.  The rock is named for its position half way between the two ends of Casco Bay, formed by Cape Elizabeth and Cape Small.

Boon Island Light lies 6 miles off the coast of York.  It is the tallest lighthouse on the Maine coast, standing 123 feet tall.  The waters off Boon Island were designated as an offshore wind energy test site in December 2009, along with sites near Damariscove Island and Monhegan.  To date, no commercial developer has publicly announced plans to develop the Boon Island offshore wind site.

If no entities qualify for a free transfer of the lighthouses, the U.S. General Services Administration will auction them off.  (In 2010, Ram Island Ledge Light near Cape Elizabeth was sold at auction for $190,000.)  The government's plans to sell or give away the lighthouses may not directly affect the proposed offshore wind plans, but whoever gets the Boon Island site would have a commanding view of any wind turbines sited nearby.