Vineyard Wind shut down after turbine failure sends "sharp fiberglass shards" onto Nantucket beaches - CBS Boston

Oct 18, 2024

By Matt Schooley

Updated on: July 17, 2024 / 4:44 PM EDT / CBS Boston

NANTUCKET – The federal government has ordered the Vineyard Wind farm to shut down until further notice because of a turbine blade failure this weekend.

Several beaches were closed on Tuesday while crews worked to clean up "large floating debris and fiberglass shards" from the broken wind turbine blade off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. A total of six south shore Nantucket beaches were closed to swimming due to debris that washed ashore.

"You can walk on the beaches, however we strongly recommend you wear footwear due to sharp, fiberglass shards and debris on the beaches," the Nantucket Harbormaster said.

Late Tuesday afternoon, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said all operations are shut down until further notice.

"A team of BSEE experts is onsite to work closely with Vineyard Wind on an analysis of the cause of the incident and next steps," the agency said in a statement.

The Vineyard Wind turbine suffered blade damage Saturday night. No one was hurt, but large chunks of the blade began washing onto the beaches in the area in the days that followed.

"Vineyard Wind is fully committed to a swift and safe recovery of all debris, with an unwavering focus on community safety and environmental protection," Vineyard Wind said in a statement. "As part of its immediate action plan, Vineyard Wind communicated with officials on Nantucket to inform them of the presence of debris and recovery efforts on the southern-facing beaches of the island."

Crews could be seen Tuesday afternoon removing pieces of fiberglass from the beach.

Vineyard Wind says the cause of the breakage is unknown at this time. According to WBZ meteorologist Jacob Wycoff, there was some bad weather in the area, including gusty wind and lightning.

GE, the turbine and blade manufacturer and installation contractor, will be doing analysis for the root cause of the incident.

Vineyard Wind said it has two recovery teams consisting of four people on Nantucket to remove the debris.

The turbine blades are made of non-toxic fiberglass. Fragments can vary in size and are usually green or white.

Vineyard Wind said that while the fiberglass is not hazardous to people or the environment, beachgoers should not pick up the debris on their own.

Matt Schooley is a digital producer at CBS Boston. He has been a member of the WBZ news team for the last decade.

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