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Nantucket gets update on turbine debris cleanup

Wind turbine debris on Nobadeer Beach on Nantucket.
Adam Dread
Wind turbine debris on Nobadeer Beach on Nantucket, July 16, 2024.

Nantucket's Select Board got an update Wednesday night, Aug. 7, on the efforts to clean up debris from the failed Vineyard Wind turbine blade south of the island.

Roger Martella, the Chief Sustainability Officer for blade manufacturer GE Vernova, outlined the ongoing response to the mid-July incident that sent debris into the ocean about 15 miles south of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. That debris continues to wash up on local beaches.

“We're going to be focusing on shellfish, we're going to be focusing on marine life, long-term degradation of anything that might remain. The impact from physical contact, from chemicals, from micro particulates,” Martella said.

Martella said a small portion of the broken blade remains on the turbine, but the expected high winds over the next few days should not cause more of it to break off.

“The storm is not a risk for the turbines or blades or anything like that. Of that seven-to-eight-percent of the hanging part that is still there, there is a possibility that the 22 meters per second projected winds could impact that and then we would execute the recovery plans that we've been doing.”

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection says it is not likely that chemicals released by the failed blade pose a significant health risk to humans or animals.

However, in an interview with CAI, Valeria La Saponara, a professor at the University of California, Davis, who has studied the materials used to build wind turbines for about 25 years, said she does see potential danger.

See all CAI's coverage of the Vineyard Wind turbine blade collapse

“Anytime that you see polyester, vinylaster coat and PVC foams, these are all carcinogenic materials. So it's not going to kill you all in the next week. But this says possible long-term consequences," Saponara said.

Cape and Islands State Senator Julian Cyr told the Nantucket Select Board that he was disappointed with Vineyard Wind’s initial response to the failed turbine blade. He said the two-day delay in notifying the public and community leaders was unacceptable.

And he said that while he and others continue to support offshore wind as a solution to climate change, wind developers must step up.

“Our pursuit of these solutions must be balanced with an unwavering commitment to the communities who host these projects. Offshore wind companies must be good neighbors,” Cyr said.

The senator said the incident exposed shortcomings of the existing response plan.

“Federal agencies, Vineyard Wind, GE and any future parties must have an emergency response plan that considers contingencies for blade failure and its aftermath. The current response plan is based on an oil spill plan that does not meet the unique challenges we are facing with this blade failure.”

Martella said increased scanning of turbine blades is being done to make sure there are no additional manufacturing defects that might lead to similar failures.

The Nantucket meeting was also attended by representatives of various agencies involved with permitting or regulating offshore wind including the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries; the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM); the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), the Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.

John Basile is the local host of All Things Considered weekday afternoons and a reporter.
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