Additional debris from a damaged offshore wind turbine continues to wash up on the shores of Nantucket. The update comes as representatives of the Biden-Harris administration who championed this project bring their presidential bid to the Massachusetts island.
Vineyard Wind announced on Monday, July 29, that more large pieces had detached from the malfunctioning turbine blade at its offshore wind farm, with the debris falling into the surrounding ocean amid expectations it will come ashore on Nantucket just as previous parts of the wreckage have.
This latest development comes nearly three weeks after the initial incident on July 13.
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The arrival of this new debris coincided with a campaign event on the island attended by Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, who was met with calls for answers from concerned Nantucket residents.
Locals have expressed growing frustration over an observed continuation of construction at the Vineyard Wind site, despite a previous suspension order issued after the accident first occurred.
The Vineyard Wind project was still under construction and not yet fully operational when the initial turbine blade failure happened. After the incident, construction was officially halted, but residents reported seeing activity at the site that suggested work had continued.
“A question for Vineyard Wind: They have a stop-halt on the project, and the question is, are they actually stopped?” one resident asked during a recent community meeting. “There’s so many boats being seen on marine traffic. So what exactly is halted? Because there are a lot of vessels out there. And if I were Vineyard Wind, I would only have vessels looking for debris and getting that piece of fiberglass off the ocean floor.”
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) clarified on July 27 that Vineyard Wind has been allowed to continue certain work at the project site. However, the company is not permitted to build any additional turbines or generate power from existing facilities while a federal investigation into the accident is ongoing.
