Vineyard Wind Turbine Breaks Up, Littering Ocean and Nantucket Beaches

Debris comes ashore on Nantucket Island, closing south shore beaches during the height of summer tourism season.

A file image of a wind turbine near Block Island, R.I., on July 7, 2022. John Moore/Getty Images

Damage to an offshore wind turbine washed “debris and sharp fiberglass shards” ashore on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts after a July 13 incident at the Vineyard Wind construction site.

Beaches are closed as the company launches a cleanup effort of debris it describes as “nontoxic fragments” measuring 1 square foot or less.

The offshore wind energy company, which is building a 62-turbine wind farm about 15 miles southwest of Nantucket Island, said a turbine blade sustained damage during an “offshore incident,” which it did not describe further.

“As part of its permitting, Vineyard Wind has detailed plans to guide its response to incidents such as this,” wrote Vineyard Wind spokesperson Craig Gilvarg in a press release. “Following those protocols, Vineyard Wind established a safety perimeter, and worked with the U.S. Coast Guard to issue notice to mariners.”

The company has recovered three “large fragments” at sea and begun conducting aerial overflights to search for any remaining debris, Mr. Gilvarg added.

Debris at Sea

Nantucket charter boat Captain Carl Bois said he discovered the debris field within 24 hours of the incident while taking customers tuna fishing.

“The fog was just lifting, and I started seeing all this speckled foam debris,” he told The Epoch Times. “We were disheartened by all the trash.”

Mr. Bois followed the debris “like a bread-crumb trail” in the direction of the wind farm.

Along the way, he said he came across three sheets of fiberglass paneling with a foam core that was the same color and pattern.

“Some were as big as my 35-foot boat but only floated about two inches above the surface,” he said.

If the fog hadn’t lifted, Mr. Bois would not have seen the panels and could have easily collided with them and damaged his boat, he added.

Meghan Lapp, fisheries liaison of Seafreeze Fisheries, told The Epoch Times, “Turbine blades the length of a football field that snap midair and send chards of debris flying are a real safety hazard for mariners.”

Cleanup Underway

Vineyard Wind announced on July 16 that it was sending a cleanup team to Nantucket after reports of green and white debris matching the description provided by Mr. Bois began washing up on the island’s south beaches.

“Here we are in July at the height of our tourist season and all of our south shore beaches are closed,” Amy DiSibio of ACK for Whales, a group of Nantucket community members who are concerned about the impact of offshore wind development, told The Epoch Times.

Ms. DiSibio worries about the environmental impact.

“There’s so much fiberglass and foam debris on our little beaches. I can only imagine how much is still out on the ocean, where debris travels and creates a hazard for sealife and marine mammals,” she said.

Some of the debris from a Vineyard Wind offshore wind turbine collected after it littered Nantucket beaches on July 16, 2024. Photo courtesy of ACK for Whales

Moving Ahead

Vineyard Wind said an investigation into the incident will begin immediately.

“GE, as the project’s turbine and blade manufacturer and installation contractor, will now be conducting the analysis into the root cause of the incident,” wrote Mr. Gilvarg.

Mr. Gilvarg did not return a request for further comment, but in his statement said the company was working to make sure the area is safe.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement is investigating the incident and said operations at the wind farm are shut down until further notice.