An offshore wind turbine project operated by Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners broke apart this week, scattering debris throughout Massachusetts’ coastal waters, with much of the flotsam washing up on Nantucket beaches.
Since the turbine experienced a catastrophic malfunction — for reasons that are not yet clear — social media has been inundated with pictures and videos of beachgoers and government employees picking up trash bags and dumpsters full of debris.
The turbine in question is owned by Vineyard Wind US, a joint project of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners of Denmark and Avangrid, the parent company of Central Maine Power (CMP). The turbine itself was manufactured by GE Vernova, which has experienced similar failures in the past with their offshore wind projects.
On Wednesday, Wineyard Wind CEO Klaus Skoust Møller attended a Nantucket select board meeting hoping to assuage locals concerns about the industrial wind turbine debris now polluting miles of beach and much of the coastal waters.
Møller apologized to the residents at the meeting and assured them that none of the debris was toxic in nature, but the locals weren’t appeased.
“We were always told we were going to be able to fish around these things, that they weren’t going to affect our livelihood,” charter boat captain and former Select Board member Bob DeCosta said, according to a report in the Nantucket Current.
“I would like to see a representative from the federal government and they should treat this like an aircraft incident…none of these turbines should be allowed to turn a blade…until they find out exactly what happened.”
[COMMENTARY: ‘Unmitigated Carbon Super-Polluters:’ The Truth About Offshore Wind…]
Following the destruction of the turbine, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), a subdivision of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which is itself a sub-agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, ordered Vineyard Wind to cease operations at all of its turbine sites.
“Following the July 13, 2024, blade failure incident at Vineyard Wind, BSEE has issued a Suspension Order to Vineyard Wind to cease power production from all its wind turbine generators until it can be determined whether the blade failure affects any other VW turbines,” the agency said.
“The Suspension Order suspends power production on the lease area and suspends installation of new wind turbine generator construction: Those operations will remain shut down until the suspension is lifted. BSEE has also issued a Preservation Order to safeguard any evidence that may be relevant to determining the cause of the incident,” the agency said.
Although much of the industrial waste from the turbine has washed up on local beaches, a significant amount remains at-sea, posing a potential threat to commercial fishermen accustomed to working in those waters.
The New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA), which has long pointed up the dangers and pitfalls of industrialized wind power operations off the New England coast, spoke to The Maine Wire about the catastrophic environmental impact of the incident and the bleak future in store for the Gulf of Maine if the state moves ahead with its plan to construct thousands of offshore turbines in the name of “clean” energy.
[RELATED: Historically Undeveloped Sears Island Now Threatened by Maine’s Wind Turbine Project…]
“I think this is just one small piece showing us what’s coming up,” said NEFSA founder Jerry Leeman, speaking about the destroyed turbine off the Massachusetts coast.
“Those fibers, fiberglass, the foam, has now gone into the ecosystem,” Leeman said. “Those microfibers are now, you know, being digested by Cetaceans as well as the wildlife.”
Images and videos of the fallout from the turbine disaster circulated broadly on social media, with frustrated beach-goers and mariners wondering why the Biden Administration, which has made offshore wind power a cornerstone of its “green” energy policy, and Vineyard Wind weren’t doing more to assist with the community clean-up effort.
The offshore installation was previously touted as “the largest turbine in the western world” by Vineyard Wind.
While speaking with the Maine Wire, Leeman broke down the environmental damage that will likely be caused by the 300-foot long blade falling into the ocean. (Vineyard Wind initially denied that the blade had fallen into the ocean despite several images circulating on the Internet showing that the blade had, in fact, fallen into the ocean.)
According to Leeman, one of the greatest environmental threats will come when local sea life ingests the fiberglass particles and per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals, commonly known as PFAS, which will then become part of the U.S. food supply.
Although PFAS chemicals have been the subject of environmental and regulatory concerns in Maine and elsewhere, environmentalists have simultaneously turned a blind eye to the use of those very chemicals in both wind turbines and solar panels — two technologies the advocate to subsidize even as they fret the introduction of PFAS chemicals into the environment.
A recent U.K. study found that oysters and mussels have become contaminated with hazardous fiberglass particles which, if ingested by humans, cannot be excreted and cause reproductive harm and even cancer.
The reason for the damage to the turbine remains unknown, but it occurred during the summer when New England’s oceans typically experience the least chaotic weather, suggesting that catastrophic turbine failures could occur far more often in other seasons when the seas are harsher.
[RELATED: Another Offshore Wind Project Scuttled as Maine Charges Forward with Mills’ “Roadmap”…]
Leeman warned about the possible environmental catastrophe that could occur if thousands of turbines are placed in the Gulf of Maine and the Vineyard Wind turbine collapse is replicated on a vaster scale.
“That was for one blade, and now you’re talking about possibly putting 1000s of blades in our ocean,” said Leeman. “So imagine, you know, catastrophic hurricane, or, you know, a powerful nor’easter”
The recent incident has led Leeman to renew NEFSA’s calls for New England governments to slow down the push for industrial-scale offshore wind development due to their possibly disastrous consequences and potential to harm commercial fisheries.
[RELATED: Offshore Wind Projects Facing High Costs and Delays Amid Industry Crisis: WSJ…]
Offshore wind turbines have long concerned fishermen and lobstermen, and not only for their effect on the environment and commercially important fish populations.
The turbines are potentially dangerous for fishermen sailing in low-visibility conditions, and the chemicals they release into the ocean can contaminate their catches, significantly devaluing their products.
Most recently, Vineyard Wind has claimed that the blade of the damaged turbine is sitting on the ocean floor, and company has promised to recover it “in due course,” without indicating a timeline for that recovery. It’s unclear whether environmental remediation plans were put in place at the time the Commonwealth of Massachusetts created legal and financial incentives for the company to install the turbine.
Nantucket is reportedly considering taking legal action against the company for the disaster.
