May 30, 2023
Massachusetts

Object flies off of ‘out of service’ wind turbine on Deer Island, prompting closure to public accessway

By Lisa Gresci, Michael Yoshida | May 29, 2023 | whdh.com

Officials believe an object that was seen hanging from then flying off of a wind turbine on Deer Island may have been the result of strong winds and a broken braking mechanism.

The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority said emergency crews and staff were on-site Monday morning after a passerby noticed that one of the two wind turbines at the Deer Island Treatment Plan had “something hanging from one of the blades.”

A witness told 7NEWS it was around 10:15 a.m. when they were travelling near the turbine and heard a noise that caused them to look up and see the object. A piece later flew off of the turbine, in what a witness described as a scene straight out of “Final Destination,” as they weren’t sure where it would land.

No injuries were reported and the public access area near the turbines was soon closed off as the MWRA, police and firefighters responded to the scene.

The MWRA later said the 100-foot tall turbine itself had been out of service since April 2022 due to a mechanical issue and had been locked in place up until Monday morning.

“Although it’s too soon to speculate on what happened, it appears that this morning’s strong winds broke the braking mechanism and the turbine began to free spin,” the public authority said in an update.

[Video available at source]

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2023/05/30/object-flies-off-of-out-of-service-wind-turbine-on-deer-island-prompting-closure-to-public-accessway/