A month ago, I wrote a letter to Shorelines decrying the kind of hysteria that some folks rely on ostensibly to protect us all from the dire consequences of offshore wind projects. Then along came the break of one blade on a Vineyard Wind turbine that led to two letters to Shorelines that validated my concerns.

The first letter stated: “This environmental disaster is only the first; statistically we can expect 15 per year once the projects are completed.” One is left to wonder what statistics the 15 events per year prediction is based on.

The second letter stated: “Now, with debris continuing to wash onshore in Westport and along the South Coast, this situation is rapidly becoming a disaster. I am absolutely appalled at the response from Vineyard Wind, and at the total lack of transparency on what allowed such a huge failure to take place.”

In contrast with these hysterical reactions, the Westport Town Administrator posted the following notice on the town website and other public places:

“The Town of Westport has been notified by Vineyard Offshore Wind and MassDEP that

there have been confirmed reports of small pieces of turbine debris off Cuttyhunk and on

Westport Beaches from the recent Vineyard Wind incident.

Members of the public and property owners who discover debris should contact Vineyard

Wind at (833) 609-5768. An online reporting system has also been set up and can be

accessed by cutting and pasting in your browser the following link:

<https://surveyl23.arcgis.com/share/b4932987a83d4bb6a78ec2dd3f8566ba>

The debris reaching the Westport area has been relatively small and is not considered toxic

but can be sharp so we urge the public to contact Vineyard Wind for pickup and disposal.”

The two letter writers may be unaware of some of the past environmental disasters we have experienced in this South Coast area against which their alarmist charges might be compared.

• A Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program report <https://buzzardsbay.org/buzzards-bay-pollution/oil-pollution/past-oil-spills/> describes 15 oil spills in Buzzards Bay during the 50-year period 1963-2013, the largest and most famous of which was the Bouchard barge spill in 2003 which discharged 98,000 gallons of fuel oil into Buzzards Bay.

• The 60-year operation of the Brayton Point Power Station — the number one point-source polluter in Massachusetts in 2007. The levels of key pollutants from that plant in 2006 were as follows:

1. CO2 Emissions: 6,756,448 tons

2. SO2 Emissions: 25,776 tons

3. Mercury Emissions: 148 lb.

The carbon- and sulfur-dioxide were discharged into the atmosphere. The mercury fell on land and waterbodies and was recorded in fish and other sea life especially downwind from the more frequent “westerlies” that prevail in this area. How does this compare with turbine-blade shards?

The Brayton Point plant was shut down in 2017 and has over time been partially replaced by gas-powered plants which are less polluting than coal, but still polluting. Some of us think of the offshore wind projects as providing the ultimate replacement for pollutant-based power with clean power, and also for meeting expanded energy needs to cope with global warming and economic growth in the future.

A recent article in the New York Times (“How Does Your State Make Electricity” Aug. 3, 2024), <https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/10/28/climate/how-electricity-generation-changed-in-your-state-election.html>  reports that between 2001 and 2023, Massachusetts stopped generating power from coal, nuclear and petroleum and replaced them with greater reliance on gas, solar and biomass. Solar accounted for 24 percent of all power generation in 2023, but gas was still 63 percent. It is this source that needs to be replaced by offshore wind and more solar in the coming years to eliminate reliance on fossil fuels and help save our planet.

It is to be hoped that the broken blade on one Vineyard Wind turbine will serve as a warning to inspect all the blades more carefully and monitor the manufacturing process more closely to assure that there are not similar incidents in the future. The owners of Vineyard Wind have as much interest and incentive as anybody to see that this doesn’t happen again. But to inflate this one incident which has had very limited collateral damage to the environment or people into a reason for shutting down this project and terminating all offshore wind development would be a huge mistake.

David C. Cole

Westport