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Debris from the broken Vineyard Wind turbine blade has washed up on a Westport beach.
Strewn down the stretch of Elephant Rock Beach Thursday morning were mounds of seaweed deposited during the high tide. Amid the usual beach litter tangled within it — fishing net, snack wrappers, and plastic packaging in many forms — a Light reporter found two pieces of foam debris that resemble those found in Nantucket and, more recently, Martha’s Vineyard.
Foam debris found at Elephant Rock Beach in Westport that appears to be from the Vineyard Wind damaged blade. Credit: Anastasia E. Lennon / The New Bedford Light
This follows reports from a Light reader, who on Wednesday night saw a woman with an armful of foam debris at the Westport beach.
Jim Hartnett, Westport town administrator, said a Vineyard Wind representative visited his office and shared that the company had collected “about 4 pounds” of debris from The Knubble — the eastern tip off of Elephant Rock Beach — and that the company will be monitoring the area.
A Vineyard Wind spokesperson confirmed that the debris was from the damaged blade, and that the company dispatched crews to Westport.
“The amount of debris is very limited and is primarily pieces of foam measuring less than one foot in size,” said Craig Gilvarg, Vineyard Wind spokesperson, by email. “We have received additional reports of debris in the area of Horseneck Beach and Westport Town Beach and are responding to them.”
A Westport lifeguard, who was raking up the seaweed Thursday, said he had not come across any debris that appeared to be from the turbine. He said they usually run into buoy foam, but that the foam found did not appear to be from a buoy, or like anything else he had seen.
Steven Ouellette, vice chair of the Westport Select Board, said he was “very concerned” about the debris, given Westport is many miles from the site.
“Can you imagine what’s going across the ocean and the danger to our aquatic life?” he said. “This is what the naysayers said could happen.”
GE Vernova issued an initial report last month, stating the turbine debris is only physically harmful (from sharp fiberglass shards, for example), and is otherwise nontoxic. The company has yet to issue a report on potential impacts to wildlife.
GE Vernova did not respond to questions Thursday about the debris in Westport.
The most recent reported blade breakage was on Monday, about two weeks after the blade first broke on July 13.
Two days later, Edgartown sent out a swimming advisory to beachgoers after pieces of foam were found on two of Martha’s Vineyard’s southeastern beaches, the Vineyard Gazette reported. A surfer in Little Compton, Rhode Island, just west of Westport, also reported finding debris this week, NBC 10 News reported.
Gilvarg said the company has been in touch with Rhode Island’s Department of Environmental Management, but that company personnel conducted a search of the beach in Little Compton and did not find any foam or other debris.
Per Nantucket town officials, GE Vernova and Vineyard Wind are working with the Coast Guard to follow ocean currents and wind patterns to track debris. The Coast Guard did not respond to questions Thursday on the direction of recent ocean currents and winds.
A large portion of the 350-foot blade also fell and sank in 150-feet-deep waters on July 19, leaving a sizable sliver attached to the turbine generator, photos showed.
It is unclear how much of the blade remains attached to the turbine. GE Vernova is working with company Resolve Marine, under the oversight of federal and state officials, to devise a plan to safely remove the remainder of the damaged blade.
The federal government issued a revised suspension order for the project, which is precluded from installing new turbines or operating those already installed.
The project is allowed to conduct survey work and install cables that connect the turbines under the sea floor. As of July, 24 of the 62 turbines were installed, though before the July 13 blade break, only 10 were fully operational and sending power to the Massachusetts grid.
GE is in the process of re-inspecting about 150 blades, which include those installed, shipped or still at its factory in Gaspé, Quebec. Early analysis shows the incident was likely caused by a manufacturing error, specifically insufficient adhesive to hold the blade components together.
Email Anastasia E. Lennon at alennon@newbedfordlight.org.
You know that fish, turtles and other aquatic animals are ingesting this floating material. There is absolutely no way to know the damage to the sea life. Shame on our politicians for using our natural resource for their political gain.
You know that coolers are made of foam.
And boats.
Who knew putting dozens of machines that are hundreds of feet tall in a fairly pristine environment would have ecological impacts?
Oh, pretty much everyone but the greenwashed idiots who proposed offshore wind farms? Huh. Nuclear power when?
Who knew that putting thousands of oil drilling rigs hundreds feet tall in a fairly pristine environment would have ecological impacts?
Oh, pretty much everyone but the oil baron idiots who proposed offshore oil drilling. Huh.
Nuclear power when?
Nuclear Reactor Shutdown List
Reactor name State Type Capacity
net MW(e) Operating
license issued Shutdown
date Status
Big Rock Point MI BWR 67 12/8/1962 8/29/1997 ISFSI Only
Crystal River 3 FL PWR 860 3/13/1977 2/20/2013 Transitioning to SAFSTOR
CVTR SC PTHW 17 12/18/1963 1/10/1967 DECON
Dresden 1 IL BWR 197 4/15/1960 10/31/1978 SAFSTOR
Elk River MN BWR 22 7/1/1964 2/1/1968 DECON
Fermi 1 MI FBR 65 8/5/1966 11/29/1972 DECON
Fort Calhoun NE PWR 484 8/9/1973 10/24/2016 SAFSTOR
Fort St. Vrain CO HTGR 330 12/11/1976 8/29/1989 ISFSI Only
GE Bonus PR BWR 17 9/1/1965 6/1/1968 ENTOMB
GE Valecitos CA BWR N/a 8/31/1957 12/9/1963 SAFSTOR
Haddam Neck CT PWR 560 8/7/1967 12/4/1996 ISFSI Only
Hallam NE Sodium-Graphite 75 1/2/1962 9/1/1964 ENTOMB
Humboldt Bay 3 CA BWR 63 4/18/1963 7/2/1976 DECON
Indian Point-1 NY PWR 257 9/16/1962 10/31/1974 SAFSTOR
Kewaunee WI PWR 566 12/1/1973 5/7/2013 SAFSTOR
La Crosse WI BWR 48 4/26/1968 4/30/1987 DECON
Maine Yankee ME PWR 860 11/8/1972 8/1/1997 ISFSI Only
Millstone 1 CT BWR 641 11/29/1970 7/1/1998 SAFSTOR
N.S. Savannah VA PWR 74 7/21/1959 1/10/1972 SAFSTOR
Oyster Creek NJ BWR 636 7/2/1991 9/17/2018 SAFSTOR
Pathfinder SD Superheat BWR 190 7/25/1966 10/1/1967 License Terminated
Peach Bottom 1 PA HTGR 40 1/27/1967 11/1/1974 SAFSTOR
Piqua OH OCM 12 6/30/1963 12/31/1965 ENTOMB
Rancho Seco 1 CA PWR 873 10/13/1974 6/7/1989 DECON
San Onofre 1 CA PWR 436 7/16/1967 11/30/1992 ISFSI Only
San Onofre 2 CA PWR 1070 8/8/1983 6/7/2013 DECON
San Onofre 3 CA PWR 1080 4/1/1984 6/7/2013 DECON
Saxton PA PWR 28 1/3/1967 1/5/1972 License Terminated
Shippingport PA PWR 60 12/18/1957 10/1/1982 DECON
Shoreham NY BWR 820 1/8/1986 1/5/1989 License Terminated
Three Mile Island 2 PA PWR 880 4/21/1978 3/28/1979 SAFSTOR [1]
Trojan OR PWR 1,095 12/23/1975 11/9/1992 ISFSI Only
Vermont Yankee VT BWR 620 11/30/1972 12/29/2014 SAFSTOR
Yankee-Rowe MA PWR 167 12/24/1963 10/1/1991 ISFSI Only
Zion 1 IL PWR 1,040 4/28/1973 1/1/1998 DECON
Zion 2 IL PWR 1,040 12/26/1973 1/1/1998 DECO
Plymouth didn’t make the list yet.
Don’t forget Fukushima and Chernobyl.
Most have you have never cleaned the beach, if you had you’d be really upset about the amount of fishing and lobster gear that washes ashore. Does this suck? Of course, but who’s cleaning all the fishing gear? Who’s cleaning all the small oil slicks from shitty outboard motors? Please let your pearl necklaces go and save the fake tears.
Yes, let us continue to hurt the local ecology for no reason just because other things we do also hurt the ecology. That can’t seriously be your argument.
Off-shore wind isn’t green, its incredibly environmentally damaging. Putting your head in the sand isn’t going to change that. Let’s get actually environmentally friendly energy from nuclear power and be done with it.
Source?
35 US nuclear plants have been shut down due to safety concerns.
If this is happening when the winds are not strong what is going to happen during a hurricane
It was a manufacturing process failure. There are thousands of this type of blade in service.
This is like a kid playing with fire. They don’t realize the ramifications. How many meteorologists and oceanographers have studied the outcome of these useless windmills? How many cancers will be caused by eating fish that had ingested this noxious foam?
It is the same type of foam as used in lobster pot buoys. How many tons of those are lost in our waters every year?