|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
A 350-foot blade partially broke off a turbine in the Vineyard Wind offshore wind project Saturday night. The company and federal officials as of Tuesday are investigating what caused it.
Anthony Seiger, a commercial clammer out of New Bedford, saw the damaged turbine while he was steaming out to his fishing grounds on Sunday. Photos he captured show one of the three turbine blades dangling against the tower and splintered near the base.
“On July 13, a single turbine at the Vineyard Wind offshore wind farm experienced an isolated blade event,” said a spokesperson for GE Vernova, the project’s turbine manufacturer. “No injuries occurred, and GE Vernova’s Wind Fleet Performance Management team have initiated our investigation protocols into the event in coordination with our customer.”
Vineyard Wind’s operations are shut down until further notice, a federal safety agency said Tuesday.
A notice to mariners from the U.S. Coast Guard on Saturday night stated the Coast Guard received a report of three pieces of floating debris “10 meters by 2 meters” in the vicinity of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, and that “all marines [sic] are requested to use extreme caution while transiting the area.”
At around 7 p.m., USCG was notified of the turbine damage, according to an agency spokesperson.
“The Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England Command Center immediately notified mariners of the hazards associated with the wind turbine blade damage and reported debris … A 500-meter safety zone surrounding the impacted wind turbine was also established. No reports of pollution have been reported to the Coast Guard,” said Lt. Samantha Corcoran, public affairs officer.
A captain out of Nantucket captured images of green flotsam in the water on Sunday, published by the Nantucket Current.
Craig Gilvarg, a spokesperson for Vineyard Wind, said the company recovered “three large pieces of debris and safely transported them to harbor, and continues to monitor the area,” and confirmed the photographs by the captain were pieces of the turbine.
Corcoran said the largest reported debris has been recovered or is in process of being recovered by onsite vessels, and that “there are indications that smaller debris may remain adrift,” so “mariners should remain cautious.”
Images shared on social media also showed green debris washing up on Nantucket beaches; the wind site is southwest of Nantucket and about 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard.
Vineyard Wind on Tuesday morning announced cleanup efforts along the southern facing beaches of Nantucket, stating the debris is non-toxic fiberglass, and white or green in color. The company will conduct patrols of beaches over the coming days, as well as aerial and vessel monitoring offshore.
The Nantucket harbormaster on Tuesday closed all beaches on the island’s south shore to swimming “due to large floating debris and sharp fiberglass shards.”
Vineyard Wind requested any debris found by the public be reported to Ian Campbell, the director of environmental and permit compliance, or online.
The Vineyard Wind project started turbine installation last year, and as of last month, had 10 of the 62 turbines (or 136 out of the 800 megawatts) installed and sending electricity to the Massachusetts grid. The company delivered first power in February.
It is not clear if the damaged blade was on an operational (spinning) turbine.
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, BOEM’s sister agency that oversees safety, is participating in the investigation.
A BSEE spokesperson on Tuesday said the agency has a team of experts onsite working closely with Vineyard Wind to determine the cause of the incident and next steps.
“Operations are shut down until further notice,” the agency said.
BOEM did not immediately respond to a request for comment or information.
Gilvarg said no personnel or third parties were in the area at the time, and that all employees are “safe and secure.”
“As part of its permitting, Vineyard Wind has detailed plans to guide its response to incidents such as this. Following those protocols, Vineyard Wind established a safety perimeter, and worked with the U.S. Coast Guard to issue notice to mariners,” said Gilvarg.
Vineyard Wind said GE will be conducting the analysis into the cause of the incident.
“As that analysis takes place, Vineyard Wind will continue working with federal, state, and local stakeholders to ensure the health and safety of its workforce, mariners, and the environment,” per Vineyard Wind.
Maria Hardiman, spokesperson for the Massachusetts office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, said Vineyard Wind briefed state officials of the incident and the planned response.
“There is a rigorous, federally approved safety process in place and we will continue to monitor the situation closely as Vineyard Wind, GE, and the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement conduct an analysis of the cause and their next steps,” said Hardiman in an email. “We are grateful to the trained personnel who addressed the situation so quickly.”
The other large-scale offshore wind farm now operational, Orsted’s South Fork Wind (12 turbines), uses turbines from a different manufacturer, Siemens Gamesa. Orsted is also using Siemens Gamesa components for its next project now under construction, Revolution Wind.
Editor’s note: This developing story will be updated as additional details become available.
Email Anastasia E. Lennon at alennon@newbedfordlight.org.
The federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement is conducting an investigation. The project should be shut down now until the cause is found. Safety first!