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

Debris has also been seen as far away as Chatham.

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.

The turbine, manufactured by GE Vernova, is part of the Vineyard Wind project, a joint venture between Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.

Vineyard Wind, the country’s first large-scale offshore wind farm, began delivering energy from five of the planned 63 wind turbines in February. The farm is about 15 miles south of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.

Due to the blade failure, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement has since ordered Vineyard Wind to cease power production until it can determine if other turbines could be affected.

Last Wednesday, Vineyard Wind said it had collected about 17 cubic yards of debris, or more than six truckloads, and several larger pieces. The damaged blade is 107 meters long.

Shortly after, another significant part of the remaining GE Vernova blade detached from the turbine, sending additional debris into the ocean.

Nantucket reports that as of Monday, about 25% of the blade remains upright at the 12 o’clock position, with about 50% still hanging down from its post. On Thursday morning, they located the part of the blade that fell into the ocean, but they have not yet removed it from the ocean.

On Sunday, Nantucket received more reports of debris washing up on south shore beaches. Vineyard Wind and GE crews were dispatched and found mostly small pieces of foam debris.

Also on Sunday, a larger piece of debris was found near Madequecham Beach but was no longer visible from shore. A helicopter overflight was set to happen Monday to locate the debris, which appears to have drifted south and west. Vineyard Wind and GE are collaborating with the harbormaster to retrieve it.

Vineyard Wind is working on a process for financial claims.

Debris found off the coast of Chatham

On Friday afternoon, the Chatham Harbormaster found debris from the GE Vernova wind turbine blade 3.5 miles southeast of Monomy Island. In a press release, Vineyard Wind said nine vessels were sent to collect debris throughout the evening and during the day on Saturday.

In addition, helicopter flyovers began Saturday morning over the Chatham and Monomoy areas. So far, the flyovers have found no debris west of Monomoy or Stage Harbor.

Vineyard Wind said they will continue monitoring.