Turbine Blade Pieces Wash Ashore In Chatham

SOUTH CHATHAM – Weeks after pieces of a Vineyard Wind turbine blade were spotted off Monomoy Island, more fragments were discovered on Chatham’s south-facing beaches last week.

Four pieces of foam, roughly the size of golf balls, were collected by Vineyard Wind representatives from Forest Beach on Aug. 4, and around a dozen other pieces were retrieved from Harding’s Beach two days later, all the size of a human fist or smaller. Additional fiberglass debris collected on Harding's Beach was turned into the wharfinger on Aug. 7. Chatham Harbormaster Jason Holm said Tuesday he is not aware of any new debris that has washed ashore since that time.

On July 13, one of the blades in the wind farm southwest of Nantucket broke apart during a test operation and a large section fell into the water. Regulators shut down the operation and the Coast Guard issued a warning to mariners in the area. Three days later, debris began appearing on Nantucket beaches, and that town closed certain beaches to swimming. On July 18, another large section of the blade fell into the water.

Anyone encountering debris on the beach or in the water is asked to immediately call 833-609-5768. Officials say handling the debris can lead to cuts.

On Sunday and Monday, crews removed much of the remaining part of the damaged blade that risked creating more floating debris.

“During the operations, Vineyard Wind and GE Vernova mobilized maritime crews on multiple vessels nearby to secure as much debris as possible for immediate containment and removal as well as land-based crews managing debris recovery,” a Vineyard Wind statement reads.

Federal regulators had ceased the installation effort, but recently updated their suspension order to allow the utility to continue installing towers and nacelles, but not any new turbine blades. The blade manufacturer is currently examining all of the installed blades and reviewing data looking for manufacturing anomalies that might have caused the blade to fail. The wind farm has not been cleared to resume generating electricity.

Vineyard Wind, approved in 2019, will have 62 turbines when complete, generating an estimated 800 megawatts of power. Construction began in 2021, and power from the first turbine started flowing in January.