Updated August 1
With turbine debris now washing ashore onto Martha’s Vineyard, some town officials are calling for Vineyard Wind to address the community.
The scope of the turbine debris from a broken blade washing ashore on Martha’s Vineyard seems to have widened, with confirmed reports of debris in Edgartown and possibly Aquinnah as well. A witness has also reported debris on the northern side of Chilmark.
Times reporters saw around 30 to 40 pieces of debris of varying sizes on Thursday morning at South Beach scattered on the sand, entangled in seaweed, or tossed into trash cans. Some of the hard, sand-speckled white pieces were nearly 9 inches long.
Edgartown town administrator James Hagerty said that Vineyard Wind’s developers need to create a plan so turbine blades don’t fracture again He also underscored the need for a “pause” on Vineyard Wind’s operations until the details surrounding how to prevent such an occurrence are ironed out.
“It’s a huge concern,” he said, pointing out that such a big incident occurred early into the construction of the offshore wind farm.
Hagerty acknowledged Vineyard Wind has been responsive to the issue, although he said “they can be as responsive as they can be, there’s still debris washing up.” The state has also been proactive, with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection offering support.
The Edgartown town administrator said Vineyard Wind should meet with the Island’s various stakeholders, including fishermen, conservationists, and government officials, once it has developed a plan.
Edgartown select board member Art Smadbeck told the Times on Thursday that Vineyard Wind should address the whole Island community, similar to how they met with the Nantucket community.
“I see this as not only an Edgartown issue, but an Island issue and as such, once all the investigations are complete, the Island should be addressed,” Smadbeck said. “There are many stakeholders that would have an interest in a meeting with representatives of Vineyard Wind to answer the many questions this turbine failure raises.”
Vineyard Wind has warned that more debris may be coming to the Island as well, instead of to Nantucket as the offshore wind company originally expected.
On Wednesday afternoon, Edgartown issued a swim advisory for Norton Point and South Beach after finding debris. At the time, Hagerty told the Times “less than a garbage bag full” of foam was found washed ashore at Norton Point on Wednesday. Beaches remain open and town staff will do the initial cleaning. It is uncertain at this time how much debris has washed up, although Hagerty estimates around a garbage bag’s worth of debris has been collected.
A Wednesday afternoon press release states the Edgartown Parks Commission announced the beach advisory in a news release soon after debris was spotted.
“This advisory is a precautionary measure to ensure public safety,” the release reads. “A determination regarding the potential full closure of these beaches will be made based on ongoing assessments of current and future conditions. We urge members of the public and property owners who discover debris to immediately contact the Edgartown Parks Department. Your cooperation is essential in maintaining the safety and cleanliness of our beaches.”
Hagerty said Vineyard Wind or GE Vernova, the companies responsible for manufacturing and installing the offshore wind farm’s blades, will also be sending personnel to the down-Island town to deal with the debris.
Craig Gilvarg, Vineyard Wind spokesperson, said in an email Wednesday that more debris could be headed to the Vineyard.
“As wind patterns have shifted through the day, models are now suggesting the foam and other debris are more likely to be visible on Martha’s Vineyard, rather than being concentrated on the South beaches of Nantucket,” he said. “We have responded by mobilizing personnel, contractors, and resources on Martha’s Vineyard to quickly identify and collect any foam and other debris that may appear on the island.
“We have received some confirming reports of foam at Martha’s Vineyard, including on Norton’s Point and South Beach, which are limited to small, popcorn-sized pieces of foam,” the statement continued. “Crews have been dispatched to those locations, as well as Wasque Beach on Chappaquiddick, and in Menemsha, in coordination with local tribal leaders, and have found very limited debris on the beaches which has been recovered.”
Gilvarg also said “limited debris” was removed from Cuttyhunk Island’s south side on Monday. He said that most of what GE Vernova and Vineyard Wind have seen and collected over the past several days were “unrelated trash.”
In Aquinnah debris is believed to have washed ashore as well, although last weekend. Jeffrey Madison, Aquinnah town administrator, and Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, chairwoman of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) both received a call from Vineyard Wind last weekend stating that a part of the damaged turbine blade may have washed ashore on a north side beach in town.
Andrews-Maltais said the possible debris was found near the jetty at West Basin. “I believe it’s from Vineyard Wind,” she said.
The possible debris was found during Vineyard Wind’s “regular reconnaissance,” according to Madison. The Aquinnah town administrator said the company was “very forthright” over what they found and are investigating the matter, making an effort to clean up and search for other debris that may be in the area.
“They are trying really hard to do the right things,” Madison said.
So far, the offshore wind developers had not provided further updates, he said.
Chilmark officials told the Times that while they are keeping an eye out for possible debris, they have not found any yet. Additionally, they pointed out that general ocean debris washes onto Chilmark shores on a daily basis.
“There’s constantly stuff washing up from the ocean,” Martina Mastromonaco, Chilmark beach superintendent, said. Mastromonaco said if debris was confirmed to be in Chilmark, they would “act appropriately” and notify the public.
Ellen Rogers, a Chilmark resident, said that she has seen debris wash ashore on the North side of the Island that resembled debris recently reported in Edgartown. The debris was all styrofoam and she’s collected all together a few dozen pieces, some about a foot in length. The debris she came across was on Cape Higgon beach, and she has noticed it arriving on the Island since Sunday.
Rogers also said that she called a Vineyard Wind hotline to report the debris, and was somewhat mystified when the person answering the phone seemed unaware of the broken wind blade and confused why she was reporting turbine debris. After some back and forth, she was eventually able to file a report.
She said that it’s worrisome that debris is washing ashore and that she made the call to the hotline to help ensure that someone is taking responsibility to clean it up.
Vineyard Wind has been asking people, especially on Nantucket where truckloads of debris washed ashore, not to touch debris if they find any and should instead report it to them.
These aren’t the first bouts of possible debris from Vineyard Wind the Island has dealt with.
Earlier in July, Vineyard Wind notified Edgartown that foam from the broken turbine blade having potentially washed ashore around Wasque Point on Chappaquiddick Island.
The Trustees of Reservations, who manage the Wasque area, announced on July 19 that they were working with Vineyard Wind to locate and remove any potential debris on Chappaquiddick.
Mary Dettloff, the Trustees spokesperson, said a “very small amount of styrofoam” was found at Wasque, although she referred the Times to Vineyard Wind on whether the material was actually from the offshore wind turbine.
“Our rangers continue to monitor the beaches, and we are in regular contact with Vineyard Wind as they continue their monitoring as well,” she said.
While the Trustees had “communicated” to Vineyard Wind about the styrofoam, Dettloff said the company has not retrieved it.
Vineyard Wind previously told the Times that modeling of the currents and the wind direction indicated debris from the offshore wind project would not hit Martha’s Vineyard shores — unlike Nantucket where fiberglass shards, among other materials, washed ashore on its beaches.
Vineyard Wind and US Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England in Woods Hole have been working to model the debris’ trajectory on a daily basis, according to Coast Guard Lt. Samantha Corcoran. However, neither entity has responded to the Times’ request for the data.
The dolphin carcass that washed ashore at Blackpoint had a gash in the head. Perhaps caused by the debris.
More likely a boat propeller
These dead ocean mammals have always been found to have been killed by either fishing nets or ship strikes. Would you rather an oil slick? A oil fire?
But now they’re being killed by these awful monuments in the ocean…..
Dolores, there’s a beautiful video of the life flourishing under the windmills off Block Island. Mussels and fish more abundant than before the windmills, by far.
More life. ❤️
Alfred, warmer ocean water, caused by gasoline cars and electricity generated by coal, killed the lobsters. 🦞
What a disgrace! Never wanted an industrial park in our waters in the first place. Make them stop! This is the opposite of “green”!
Do you want oil rig/production platforms?
Oil tankers?
None….
We lived how long without any of it????
greed greed greed greed…
And my electric bill is the same
Hasn’t changed
Dolores, we lived without oil platforms? At least none that you can see. When we have solar on every roof, then we can have a desalination plant so we have enough fresh water. Let’s start there. Oh, and if you buy your own solar panels off eBay, then you won’t have an electric bill. Run your AC until you have to wear a sweater. Leave every light in the house on until your house looks like a Christmas 🎄 tree. Still free.
Where doses the oil come from that produces the electricity you consume?
Are those old Corvette body parts? . . . .
I AM THE VINEYARD HAVEN MEMBER ON THE MV COMMISSION-I DID NOT VOTE FOR THIS BECAUSE THEY DID NOT POST A BOND EVERY BODY ELSE DID AND I ASKED MANY TIMES.WHY NO BOND-NO BOND NO VOTE FROM TRIP WHO IS GOING TO PAY FOR THIS MESS- I ASKED THETURBINE FOLKS T0 EXPLAIN THE MESS AT BLOCK ISLAND THE CABLE DIDNT WORK AND BLOCK ISLAND HADTO COUGH UP MILLIONS-THEY SAID- OH..THATS NOT OUR COMPANY-IASKED THEM IF THEY TALKED TOGETHER ..OH NO !!/OUR FISH PACKING PLANT CLOSED -NOFISH THE HOPE WAS THEYWOULD REPLEMISH-FAT CHANCE
J, did you protest this loudly when we drilled for oil in the ocean near Louisiana and Texas? Surely the oil platforms are more disruptive than the windmills.
Has anyone else noticed a surprising silence from the most prolific of MVTimes commenters?
I guess that the head cheerleader of Vineyard Wind (in this comment section at least, a man that goes by the initials of DK, has volunteered to go in a row boat out to the wind site to help collect the debris and mitigate the harmful environmental impact that these turbines have had on our island and our surrounding waters.
Mind you, the turbines have been barely operational. And if you do go out there, please wear a life jacket. God does not seem to be on the side of the people who work for or help this industrialization of our coast.
He’s trying to figure out how he can blame DJT for this.
Oh, Bill, let me try. DJT said he will end some renewable energy initiatives. DJT said he will end our participation in the Paris Agreement.
A lady told me yesterday that burning coal has no environmental impact! 🤣🤣🤣 She said she is going to vote for DJT.
Bill, you forgot to mention wind cheerleader and all-around energy expert no. 2, Mary Hansen.
I (and others) am on record in these pages: The “wind deniers” (of course per the all-knowing DK and MH, every one a DJT lover-MAGA-white supermacist nazi, doncha know) will have the last laugh on this madness—but it won’t be a mirthful laugh.
It is a shame the MVC so blindly and eagerly passed this with so little consideration to our island communities, just because big renewable money impressed them. Maybe they should have required the same run around and headache they require from small businesses and schools who are trying to make a palpable impact on-island. The MVC, as representatives of all our towns, should have negotiated community buy-in like the town of Nantucket did. Vineyard Wind is giving millions of dollars to the Nantucket nonprofit community and all our MVC did was roll out the red carpet. Beach pollution with nothing to show for it. I hope town administrators use this as a bargaining point for future investment in the Martha’s Vineyard charitable community.
Robert, do we have a right to live in a bubble—and outside the bubble is where all the industrialization to support us comes from?
All of this seemed to happen without anyone knowing until it was too late!
I”m not surprised we din’t know, however.
Look where we are now!!?? so very sad
Do you think Vineyard Wind cares? Or GE Vernova? They didn’t want to deal with remaining mess of the blade half, so they rotated the rotor till it fell into the sea.
Mary Chalke, do you really believe that people who are addressing the broken blade don’t care? How is that we, as a society, have come to believe that everyone outside of ourselves is incompetent or uncaring? Those people are professionals, doing their jobs. Someone in the manufacturing process when making the blade, made a mistake. Must be very embarrassing to have half the world aware of a mistake you made. You and I are very lucky that our mistakes aren’t happening in a fish bowl.
And a previous communication from the company said that they were going to turn the blade on purpose because they felt that was the safest option. Should we trust them? How about the people who torque the bolts on our tires? Should we trust them? How about the person who tests our drinking water? Where does the trusting start and stop? Who is telling us not to trust others?
W0W…!!!!! Styrofoam strikes me as an inferior foam in structural applications. I am consulting aircraft applications which are flown by a pilot. Any structural failures would likely result in fatality of the pilot and passengers so a greater degree of caution is a given. Moreover this failure seems to have occurred during a time void of violent weather. What will be happening in the winter when such plastic structures are more brittle & the weather can be more violent, hurricanes aside. Will there be mass failure of these blades and replacing all of them the only solution? I sure hope this is a one off anomaly but, i would not bet that it is.
Renewable wind is an expensive, inefficient, intermittent form of energy. Dangerous to birds and marine life. Noisy sound pollution and visual pollution. Apparently not durable due to manufacturing defects, design flaws and high velocity storms leading to high cost clean ups and water contamination. Hazardous to navigation.
Higher demand for electric vehicles and AI will create higher electric prices for residential, commercial and industry. Wind and solar are not viable to expand to manage this increased demand. Unfortunately our current administration has stalled investment in oil and natural gas. In addition, the administration has delayed construction of pipelines and LNG export facilities. These issues will lead to higher inflation for everything.
Oil energy is disgusting.
Roy, I’m offering a friendly rebuttal to your claims. Windmills are beneficial to marine life. Have you taken a look under a windmill to see the teeming life?
Want to know something more harmful to birds than windmills? Buildings. About half a million birds 🦅 die from windmills worldwide. About one billion die from birds flying into buildings. House cats 🐈⬛ kill about four billion per year. Should we ban pet cats?
High velocity storms, with the right windmill, can create massive amounts of electricity, and paired with batteries is a wining combination.
About the visual and noise pollution: you obviously mean that YOU shouldn’t have to see where your electricity comes from. OTHER people should have to deal with the dust and grime from coal mines. Or OTHER people should have to deal with loud oil wells and gas burning off. And the smell! That nasty smell is okay for OTHER people.
Inflation: oil is only going to rise in price. Coal is done. Some of the mines are already closed. Ten years from now, no coal. Instead of your desire for increased burden on families, how about we help families transition to solar power and exit the grid. With an ROI of three years, EVERYONE should transition yesterday to solar and an electric car. No more oil changes. Instant acceleration. There’s a reason taxi 🚕 cab drivers are buying Teslas. What do they know that we don’t?
Your claim that wind and solar isn’t viable is a lie told to us by the oil companies. Reject oil companies’ lies.
Thomas, let’s hire the Chinese to build a big turbine for us. They were so successful with their big turbine that it broke a world record for the most electricity generated in 24 hours. And the turbine pulled that energy from a typhoon!
Since 1880 the world oceans have risen by 8” to 9” and 4” above the 1993 ocean levels.
With all the extra heat in our deeper oceans, blades that can pull energy from a hurricane will be a big benefit.
Katherine, a few things: it’s hilarious that you wrote this and I was busy writing a response to Bill at the same time. Second, if DJT gets elected our world will cease to exist as we know it.
Why do I say that? Because the conservative media is saying things, not always true, and many of the people listening and watching conservative media don’t get the balanced view that used to exist in the media. Ronald Reagan did our country a massive disservice when he orchestrated the demise of The Fairness Doctrine. That was a step, a very big step, in the direction of an autocracy. DJT has voiced he intends many more steps down the path of autocracy.
Climate change, conservatism, renewable energy, and the oil industry are tangled up together like an ivy vine tangled on a wall. Can we tease it out? It matters to me that we get this right! We can’t allow lobsters 🦞 to disappear and then people say no to windmills for whatever excuse they can come up with. The lobsters 🦞 are gone. The beetles are eating every forest in the US. I’m not going to stay silent while the conservative media tell lies about our world. The oil industry OWNS (literally, not figuratively) the conservative media and legislators. I’m not going to stay silent while the oil barons destroy the earth. I’m not going to stay silent while DJT is doing the bidding of the oil industry.
Robert Bryce (born 1960) is an American author and journalist based in Austin, Texas.[1] His articles on energy, politics, and other topics have appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Real Clear Energy, Counterpunch, and National Review.
Please click on the attached link to educate yourself.
https://robertbryce.substack.com/p/breaking-wind
Roy, does every roof in your neighborhood have solar panels? If not, let’s work together to make that happen. And exit the grid.
And we need to continue supporting windmills; our society needs every idea to stop the earth from warming, right now. The windmills connected to the grid are useful for homes that cannot generate enough electricity for themselves.
One clue about the guy in Texas: he’s in Texas. Everything in Texas is run by Dunn and the Wilks brothers, the oil barons. Vote against the oil barons.
Roy, Robert Bryce is fake news. For real. Find someone qualified as a real journalist to read.
Who do you think paid Robert Bryce to produce that propaganda? I’ll tell you: the oil industry. Putin is fighting the war in Ukraine to protect his oil interests. The oil barons are pumping out lies faster than the speed of light.
Do you have your own electric car? Do you have your own small windmills? Do you have your own solar panels? If you don’t, I invite you to join the party and start saving big money. The average family spends between $5k and $10k per year on fossil fuels. So in ten years that’s one hundred thousand dollars! Yes, a $100k in ten years!!!
Spend a fraction of that for your own solar panels and have free electricity for the rest of your life!
And then don’t forget that we are creating a national security risk by allowing China to leapfrog over us in renewable energy technologies. Bet none of your Texas propagandists are telling you that.
Mary I admire your passion but disqualifying people simply by labeling them fake news makes you lose credibility. It’s comparable to calling someone racist or bigot or homophobe when one is losing an argument. Wind is receiving billions in subsidies from the taxpayer and its efficiency is suspect. Bryce makes some good points.
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