Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: Nantucket warns more turbine debris could be headed ashore

July 30, 2024 — Are you heading to Nantucket? You’ll want to exercise caution in the water, and we’re not talking about sharks.

Town officials have warned beachgoers that more pieces of the broken Vineyard Wind turbine are washing up.

The company that manufactures and services the turbines, GE Vernova, informed town leaders recently that several sections of the fiberglass turbine blade broke off from the hub. The company says while this was not unexpected, it has been several days since any debris was observed after the first chunk broke off nearly two weeks ago.

The United States Coastguard continues to enforce a 500-meter safety exclusion zone around the turbine.

Read the full article at Boston 25 News

MASSACHUSETTS: Additional sections of blade fall off Vineyard Wind turbine near Nantucket

July 30, 2024 — More pieces of blade fell off an offshore Vineyard Wind turbine near Nantucket, Massachusetts, Monday. The rotary engine first experienced damage on July 13.

No Vineyard Wind workers were injured when the turbine was first damaged, and no one was reportedly hurt as debris continued to fall. The U.S. Coast Guard is maintaining a 500-meter exclusion zone around the engine for safety, Nantucket officials said.

No new sections of the damaged turbine blade had fallen off since July 18, when a section came off before sinking underwater.

Read the full article at The Washington Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Keating criticizes federal response to damaged wind blade

July 29, 2024 — Congressman Bill Keating wants answers and better protocols from the federal government following the Vineyard Wind blade failure that sent countless pieces of foam and fiberglass debris — both tiny and large — to Nantucket shores.

“Numerous state and local officials have contacted my office to express their concerns regarding the lack of communication from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) in the aftermath of this incident,” wrote Keating in a letter this week to the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.

BSEE has been regulating the oil and gas industry for more than a decade, and offshore wind is a new and developing industry in its portfolio. The agency cooperates with federal partner BOEM in the leasing of the expansive outer continental shelf for energy.

Per a government site, BOEM “studies the environment and leases resources,” while BSEE “provides regulatory oversight and enforcement” for environmental compliance, inspections and investigations.

“When debris is washing up on the beach, the first call a resident makes is to their town government, and [BSEE’s] delay in notifying local stakeholders is unfair to those impacted most by this incident,” Keating said in a press release Friday.

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light

MASSACHUSETTS: BOEM Hears Mostly Opposition at a Meeting in Eastham

July 25, 2024 — Local officials on the Outer Cape have for a month been calling for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to hold a public information session here about one of eight proposed wind energy areas in the Gulf of Maine — the one sited about 20 miles off Cape Cod’s back shore — before its size and shape are approved.

BOEM, the agency of the Dept. of Interior that is charged with managing the development of offshore wind, finally did that on June 17, and some 200 people turned out at the Four Points by Sheraton for it.

BOEM announced the meeting only six days before it was held. The agency’s renewable energy program specialist Zachary Jylkka said that it was spurred by requests from local officials here and that, despite the planned public comment period being over, BOEM would take comments from the meeting into account.

The Independent spoke to eight people on their way into a packed conference room. Four said they had come to the session because they supported wind development, two said they were against it, and two said they had come to learn more. During the meeting, however, that straw poll did not appear to hold up. Of the 32 people who spoke, 25 opposed the wind energy area proposal or criticized BOEM’s management of it so far, and rounds of applause followed their criticisms. One person speaking in favor of the plan was booed.

Read the full article at The Provincetown Independent 

MASSACHUSETTS: As more turbine trash washes up on Nantucket, town considers suing

July 24, 2024 — As additional debris from a damaged offshore wind turbine washes ashore on Nantucket, the town is considering other methods of dealing with the aftermath, including litigation.

Last weekend, a damaged Vineyard Wind turbine sent floating debris and sharp fiberglass across the south shore of Nantucket, angering residents.

In response to the ongoing crisis on the island, the Nantucket Select Board will meet in executive session on Tuesday to discuss “potential litigation in connection with Vineyard Wind” regarding recovery costs associated with the blade failure, according to an online meeting notice.

Representatives from GE and Vineyard Wind will give an update at Wednesday’s regularly scheduled Select Board meeting. The engineering firm Aracadis is also expected to complete an environmental assessment soon, which they will present at the Wednesday meeting.

Read the full article at Boston.com

MASSACHUSETTS: Massive Vineyard Wind blade section sinks to ocean floor

July 22, 2024 — The 300-foot blade section that detached from a Vineyard Wind turbine this week sank to the ocean floor, Nantucket officials said Friday. Nautical charts show waters are about 150 feet deep in the area (or roughly half as deep as the blade is long).

Meanwhile, a federal official said they have no time estimate on when the project shutdown might end because the investigation is in its early stages. While officials try to determine the cause of the blade failure, turbine components will continue to arrive at the New Bedford staging terminal, but won’t be heading back out to sea for installation.

Vineyard Wind and GE Vernova have not shared their plans for retrieving the major blade piece as of Friday afternoon. About half of the fiberglass shell remains attached to the nacelle, and most of the foam core was released during the initial failure on July 13, according to Nantucket officials.

Amid concerns about health and economic impacts, town officials said Vineyard Wind is developing a water quality testing plan for the island and setting up a process in which affected people can file claims.

“Vineyard Wind is fully responsible for the repercussions on Nantucket, and Town Administration and the Select Board will ensure they are held accountable,” said the town in a statement Friday. Per a meeting agenda filed the same day, the Select Board and county commissioners are scheduled to meet next week to discuss possible litigation against the company over the incident.

Also on Friday, BSEE and Vineyard Wind representatives delivered limited updates during a previously scheduled meeting of state officials and fishing industry members. The group meets regularly to discuss offshore wind developments; the turbine incident was added to the top of the agenda and discussed for just under an hour.

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light

MASSACHUSETTS: CLT Marine proposal of ‘Boat people doing boat stuff’ on New Bedford State Pier

July 22, 2024 — Ed Anthes-Washburn is very familiar with the Port of New Bedford.

His background includes 11 years with the New Bedford Port Authority, the last six as port director.

Today, he’s the managing director of Coast Line Transfers, or CLT Marine, which is one of the seven firms seeking to become part of the New Bedford State Pier’s redevelopment.

CLT is a commercial marine service provider to the expanding offshore wind industry, as well as the marine industry in the Northeast.

Their focus is on crew-transfer vessels, as well as offshore supply vessels, and they provide support to marine services in southern New England.

Proposing use of existing Buildings 1 and 2

In simple terms, Anthes-Washburn said during a presentation hosted by MassDevelopment in May, “We’re boat people who want to do boat stuff on the east face” of State Pier.

MassDevelopment, the state’s development finance agency and land bank, manages the state-owned, 8-acre pier.

A MassDevelopment review committee is evaluating the proposals.

The seven proposals before the committee could be approved together, separately or denied altogether. A decision deadline has not been announced.

Read the full article at South Coast Today

MASSACHUSETTS: In a packed room in Eastham, residents call for ‘reset’ on Outer Cape offshore wind

July 22, 2024 — Outer Cape residents filled a hotel ballroom to capacity in Eastham Wednesday for a meeting on offshore wind development areas off Cape Cod’s eastern shore.

The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management hosted the information session in response to complaints that the agency has not done enough on the Outer Cape to communicate its plans. The agency has proposed eight areas for lease to developers, totaling nearly 1 million acres.

Among the concerned residents to speak were fishers, a charter boat owner, and Select Board members from at least five towns. Recurring themes included protecting Stellwagen Bank, the location of cable landings, and the role of offshore wind in reducing climate change.

Federal plans show offshore wind areas in the Gulf of Maine starting about 25 miles off Cape Cod.

Luke Feinberg, a project coordinator with BOEM, told the audience the agency does not anticipate that electrical cables would make landfall on the Outer Cape because the area does not have the infrastructure or electrical demand to support it. The closest grid connections BOEM has analyzed are in Sandwich and Plymouth.

“Just want to be very clear, that as we predict today, cables would not be landing in the Outer Cape area or going through the Outer Cape area,” he said.

Read the full article at CAI

MASSACHUSETTS: Damaged Vineyard Wind turbine sheds more debris

July 19, 2024 — A broken turbine blade on one of the Vineyard Wind generators shed more fiberglass material into the water 15 miles off Nantucket, Mass., prompting project CEO Klaus Skoust Møller to abruptly leave a tense meeting with the island community Wednesday evening.

In the midst of the meeting with the Nantucket Select Board carried online via Zoom, Møller apologized that he had to leave to deal with “a development to the integrity of the blade” that had been hanging off turbine AW38 since its initial failure July 13.

“Folks this is the definition of crisis management,” said board chair Brooke Mohr, instructing Møller to report back to the board later. “Things change by the minute.”

Vineyard Wind officials issued a statement soon after.

“This evening there was an observed compromise to the integrity of the GE Vernova blade. While part of the blade remains attached to the turbine, we believe there is an increased possibility it could detach soon. There has been a 500-meter safety zone implemented around the turbine and GE Vernova blade since Saturday night, and it has been under constant surveillance.”

Read the full article at National Fisherman

Blade collapse, New York launch and New Jersey research show uneven progress of offshore wind

July 18, 2024 — Three events Wednesday highlighted the uneven progress of the offshore wind industry in the Northeast, including the start of a major project in New York, research aimed at preventing environmental damage in New Jersey, and a temporary shutdown of a wind farm in Massachusetts after a broken turbine blade washed ashore on a famous beach.

The federal government ordered a wind farm operator off the coast of Nantucket in Massachusetts to suspend operations while cleanup continues after a wind turbine blade fell into the water, broke apart, and washed up on beaches at the popular vacation spot.

Vineyard Wind said Wednesday that it has removed 17 cubic yards of debris, enough to fill more than six truckloads, along with several larger pieces that washed ashore. The debris was mostly non-toxic fiberglass fragments ranging in size from small pieces to larger sections, typically green or white.

Read the full article at the Associated Press