Long Island tribes to monitor construction of Sunrise Wind cable for native sites

Members of two Long Island Indian nations have expressed concern about potential disruption of native burial and artifact sites along portions of the land-based route of the Sunrise Wind cable, and the developer says it’s working with the nations to monitor the work.

Harry Wallace, chief of the state-recognized Unkechaug tribe located on the Poospatuck reservation near Mastic, said he was made aware of the potential conflicts about a month ago and has had recent meetings with representatives of Sunrise Wind to express his concerns. A representative of the federally recognized Shinnecock Indian Nation also has concerns.

The 17.5-mile cable will make landfall at Smith Point County Park and travel along William Floyd Parkway before making its way to a Holbrook substation along the Long Island Expressway. Newsday has reported that preliminary construction for the project, which will bring 924 megawatts of power to the Long Island grid, began last month.

An online "open house" to detail the plan is scheduled for Wednesday at 6 p.m. Questions can be submitted to the developers prior to the session. The project promises to provide power to some 600,000 homes by the time it's fully constructed in 2025. 

Wallace said the developers have been open to his demands. “We’re now in discussions after I screamed and yelled and hollered,” he said. “I’m getting a monitor in place as soon as possible to prevent any desecration of our sacred ground.”

Wallace was a prime driver behind a recently enacted state law that sets new standards for burial and other historic sites that otherwise could be damaged or plowed over by development and construction. Wallace is on the unmarked burial site committee that is monitoring such sites statewide, and he said the Sunrise Wind project "should be on that agenda." 

A spokesman for Sunrise Wind said the developers are working with the tribes to make sure no culturally sensitive sites are disturbed. 

“Members of the Sunrise Wind project team have engaged with representatives of the Unkechaug and Shinnecock Nations regarding the offshore and onshore route for Sunrise Wind over the course of several years,” spokesman Chris Raia said. “The team is aware of the tribes’ concerns for potential discoveries within sensitive areas and is having constructive conversations regarding the participation of tribal monitoring during construction.”

An archaeological survey conducted as part of Sunrise Wind’s construction and operations plan noted that there were eight “previously recorded archaeological sites with Native American components are located within 0.25 miles of the onshore facilities. The sites consist of a village, a burial and lithic scatters." The plan recommends the project’s "Preliminary Area of Potential Effect” should be considered to have an “elevated sensitivity for the presence of Native American archaeological resources."

The title page indicates the report was submitted to the Shinnecock, the Unkechaugs, the Delaware Tribe of Indians, Narragansett Indian Tribe, Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and the Mohegan Tribe. 

But Tela Troge, a tribal attorney and director of health and community services with the Shinnecock Indian Nation, said she received a map of known Native cultural sites that showed pages of numerous potential conflicts along the cable route from a member of the federal team at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management just over a month ago.

She called the potential conflicts with burial sites “outrageous,” and said the Shinnecock tribe, whose reservation is located more than 20 miles east of the Unkechaug’s, “couldn’t possibly give permission to anyone to run [a cable] through burial sites.”

Raia of Sunrise Wind noted that as “part of the siting and permitting process, Sunrise Wind’s route has undergone cultural and archaeological surveys since 2020, and these archaeological reports and surveys have been shared with tribes since August 2020. No burial areas have been identified within the project area.”

Sunrise Wind noted the cable route already has the approval of New York State, Suffolk County and Brookhaven Town, and follows “previously disturbed roadways, parking lots and industrial properties.”

The company also noted the project has “strict New York state-approved compliance protocols if any unanticipated archaeological discoveries are found during construction activities.” And it said it has offered site visits to tribal leaders for the excavation activities during construction.

Wallace said he is planning to meet with Sunrise Wind officials "to come up with an agenda for going forward," adding, "I'm hopeful they will set a comprehensive agenda for the prevention of desecration to Native sites. We'll be watching."

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.