More information could be on the way regarding the Vineyard Wind blade fracture that occurred over the summer.
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and the Nantucket select board will be hosting a Zoom webinar on Jan. 14 at 5 pm to address the public’s questions about the Vineyard Wind turbine blade failure on July 13.
Only presubmitted questions will be addressed during the webinar, and they can be sent to bseepublicaffairs@bsee.gov by Dec. 30.
To attend the webinar, sign up at bit.ly/4gQ1Cas. The town will also be livestreaming the webinar on its YouTube channel.
The incident attracted heavy criticism from the public and officials, particularly because of the debris that washed onto local shores, and because Vineyard Wind project developers waited two days to notify local authorities about the incident.
GE Vernova, the contractor constructing the turbines, began installing blades again this month after a federally imposed hiatus, but questions remain regarding the incident. GE Vernova indicated in October that the blade’s fracturing stemmed from a manufacturing deviation in a Canadian factory. At the same factory, Reuters quoted unnamed sources saying a number of workers were suspended for taking shortcuts on quality control measures, and a Canadian radio station reported a “falsification scheme,” prioritizing quantity over quality.
