Coast Guard warns about debris from damaged Vineyard Wind turbine off Nantucket 

More debris fell from a turbine Thursday morning at the controversial Vineyard Wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod. This time, it was a chunk almost as big as a football field, apparently the remainder of the blade that broke days earlier and sent debris floating onto beaches.

Coast Guard bulletin

The U.S. Coast Guard put out a bulletin to mariners that there was “…a piece of debris, 300-feet in length…use extreme caution.”

“There were probably between six and ten-inch pieces every couple of feet on the beach where we were,” said Justin Helms after he stepped off a ferry from Nantucket with his family. South facing beaches on the island were temporarily shut down for clean-up. “There were guys on four-wheelers all day coming and cleaning up.”

Gov. Healey says wind power environmentally safe

Development of the wind farm was abruptly halted this week. About 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, it has been controversial. The accident did not sway Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey’s support for wind power. “I’m a big believer in wind. I think it’s absolutely where we need to be. That’s why Massachusetts has gone big here. It’s certainly environmentally safe,” Healey said.

“With the wind turbines, we can’t go in that particular that area,” said clammer Allen Rencurrel, who stressed that he and other fishermen were already frustrated by industry restrictions. Now, he said he’s worried about the possibility of turbine fragments in the shoals.

At a Nantucket Select Board meeting Wednesday, Vineyard Wind CEO Klaus Moeller did not say what caused the break. “I’m really truly sorry that this impacted your beautiful beaches here,” he said.

Concerns about food chain

“There are lots of pieces still on the beach. I mean, they cannot pick all of this stuff up,” said Amy Dibisio of ACK for Whales, a group that’s opposed the wind farm since its inception. “What I’m more worried about, is the long-term effect here on fish, and on the on the food chain here…what, are we all going to be eating this stuff?”

In a statement, Vineyard Wind said, “We have deployed additional crews to Nantucket Island in anticipation that more debris could wash ashore tonight and tomorrow as we continue to monitor additional coastal communities.”
Other wind turbine incidents in Massachusetts

The Department of Energy says these kinds of incidents are rare. There are 40 incidents documented out of 40,000 modern turbines installed in the U.S. since 2014. But some have happened in Massachusetts.

Part of a blade went flying off a decommissioned turbine last year on Deer Island. In 2022, a blade broke off a turbine in Gloucester. The company that owned it ended up taking it down but left two others.

The Vineyard Wind blades are designed by General Electric. The company had a similar blade issue earlier this year at a turbine near the U.K. the cause of both blade failures is still unknown.

Vineyard Wind is just a fifth of the way to its goal of 62 turbines. Construction has stopped at the $4 billion development.