Updated July 29
Some activity has resumed on the Vineyard Wind offshore wind development, officials with the project revealed during a tense select board meeting in Nantucket on Wednesday, July 24.
Several residents claimed that despite the federal government shutting operations down at the lease area — in the aftermath of a fractured blade spilling its contents into the ocean — contractors were still laying cables.
Vineyard Wind representative Richard Smith said that federal officials had approved some activities on the site, although he did not clarify what these activities included. Construction of the turbine blades is not ongoing, according to the representative.
BSEE shut the operation early last week following news of the fractured blade.
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement stated in a press release following the meeting that although power generation and most construction was still suspended for Vineyard Wind, the offshore wind developers can still install undersea cables and conduct surveys outside of the damaged turbine’s safety zone.
“BSEE prioritizes offshore worker safety and environmental protection, and we will use all tools available to ensure compliance with safety and environmental regulations on the Outer Continental Shelf,” Kevin Sligh, BSEE director, said in a statement.
The continuation of work on the site was just the latest issue revealed at Wednesday’s select board meeting. Project representatives said that they are also working on a plan to remove a piece of the blade that has sunk to the ocean floor, and they are working to ensure that the rest of the blade can come down from the turbine safely.
Nantucket officials, frustrated by the response from Vineyard Wind and with debris from the blade floating on their shoreline, indicated that they will seek restitution and are looking to renegotiate a multi-million dollar agreement with the company.
They also chastised Vineyard Wind for not communicating more clearly and in a timely manner.
And although a few more details are coming together on how the blade fractured, Nantucket residents were left wanting more answers. Some residents called for the project to be shut down entirely.
At Wednesday’s select board meeting, Renjith Viripullan, executive fleet engineering director at GE Vernova, said that they are still investigating what went wrong with the blade. He said they are in step four of eight in their “root cause analysis.” He said that GE still has testing at their laboratories, verifying information, and taking “corrective action.”
“The blade is still there,” Martella said on Wednesday evening. He showed a recent photo of a segment of the blade dangling from an upright portion still connected to the rotor. “We are as motivated to have the blade removed at the earliest opportunity as anyone else is.”
He said a plan is being developed with the global maritime response and recovery firm Resolve Marine to remove the broken blade. Resolve was a part of working on the aftermath of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore that collapsed in March.
As a part of the plan, Martella said they moved the blade remotely to test for more loose debris and to avoid safety issues for workers.
“I want to reinforce our goal here is to move with urgency, but safety has to trump everything,” he said.
Martella also gave a brief explanation for what may have led to the fracture in the blade, reiterating statements made during a call with investors on Wednesday. GE has explained that there was a “manufacturing deviation” in a Canadian factory that was not spotted during inspection. Martella expanded on the explanation somewhat, saying that the issue was specifically with an adhesive.
He added that All 150 blades built in the Gaspé, Canada factory are being re-inspected, including those already installed.
“We’re going to focus on being rigorous and being thorough versus necessarily doing it fast,” he said. “That’s our top priority, to address the question of the root cause here and how … we do everything to make sure that we don’t see this repeat itself again.”
Meanwhile, Smith said a piece of turbine debris that sunk into the ocean is being tracked by sonar and said he expects it can be recovered, although how that will be done was not discussed.
Nantucket officials and residents pushed for further investigation into the potential environmental impacts from the broken blade, including testing water quality and the potential harm to marine animals.
“This is not asbestos, but it is harmful to human beings and potentially harmful to animals and wildlife,” select board member Malcolm MacNab said. He argued there was too much of a focus on whether the fiberglass was toxic or not, noting that there are other concerns surrounding the substance.
Jim Nuss, a consultant from Arcadia, said water testing is something that is planned. As for potential harm to marine life, he said this will need to be analyzed further and will depend on the degradation of the debris. Additionally, he said the risks associated with people ingesting seafood harvested from Nantucket waters had not been considered yet, but they would look into the issue in the future.
“Our community doesn’t consider that a future risk, they consider that an immediate risk,” board chair Brooke Mohlr said
The town’s select board is also pushing for financial reimbursement from Vineyard Wind.
Mohlr read from a statement stemming from an executive session the town officials held on Tuesday, July 23.
“The Town of Nantucket select board is alarmed by the blade failure at Vineyard Wind 1,” Mohlr read. “We are deeply concerned about the safety, environmental, and economic impacts of this catastrophe on our local residents and visitors to the Island. The select board is committed to holding Vineyard Wind and GE, the manufacturer of the turbine blades, accountable. We demand 100 percent transparency from both Vineyard Wind and GE about exactly what occurred during the blade failure and exactly what chemicals and materials are in the debris that has washed up on our beaches and remains in the water column in Nantucket. Vineyard Wind must implement comprehensive measures to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future and it is imperative that full restitution is provided for the damage caused.”
Mohlr said town representatives will meet with the offshore wind developers next week to discuss reimbursements to the Nantucket community and for damages sustained from the incident and recovery efforts.
The chair also demanded “answers and better coordination” from federal and local officials involved with the case and who oversee offshore wind development operations.
“The emergency has also revealed the inadequacy of Vineyard Wind’s coordination and communication required by the Good Neighbor Agreement,” Mohlr said, referring to an agreement between the town and Vineyard Wind meant to foster their mutual interests against climate change. The agreement was signed by the town and Vineyard Wind in 2020. Through the document, Nantucket agrees to support the project and receive a $16 million payout.
“Although the town has done our part to honor our obligations, we intend to renegotiate the terms of the agreement in light of this accident,” Mohlr said.
Multiple Nantucket residents called for the town to exit the agreement and for the Vineyard Wind project to be shut down.
Some called for federal officials to come to Nantucket to answer residents’ questions.
While getting grilled with questions from residents and town officials, representatives from Vineyard Wind and GE Vernova stated that they would need to circle back to provide answers.
Updated with additional information from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
