Turbine debris fouls Sakonnet, Westport beaches

Chunks arrive from Vineyard Wind turbine blade that failed three weeks ago

By Ted Hayes
Posted 8/6/24

Debris from the wind turbine blade that failed and broke apart off Nantucket last month has reached the shores of Westport and Little Compton, sparking concern here over its impact on wildlife and …

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Turbine debris fouls Sakonnet, Westport beaches

Chunks arrive from Vineyard Wind turbine blade that failed three weeks ago

Posted

Debris from the wind turbine blade that failed and broke apart off Nantucket last month has reached the shores of Westport and Little Compton, sparking concern here over its impact on wildlife and those who come across it.

In Westport, debris — mostly small chunks of styrofoam — have been confirmed at Elephant Rock, the Knubble, near the arbormaster's office at Westport Point, East Beach Road and a good ways up the east branch of the Westport River. In Little Compton, beachcombers have found it at the Goosewing Preserve, South Shore Beach and Briggs Beach, Warren’s Point, Tappens and other spots.

The 330-foot fiberglass, foam and balsa wood turbine blade at the Vineyard Wind lease south of Nantucket broke apart on Saturday, July 13 due to what manufacturer GE Vernova confirmed was a “manufacturing defect.”

Pieces soon washed ashore on Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, and the first bits started appearing in the Elizabeth Islands about a week later, and locally last week.

Barrels have been set up at South Shore so beach-goers who come across debris can dispose of it on-site. In Westport, town officials issued an advisory Monday stating that while the debris is “small and not considered toxic,” it can have sharp edges and those who find pieces should contact Vineyard Wind for pickup and disposal (see below).

Bill Thompson, co-founder and vice president of Green Oceans, a group focused on ocean protection and the impacts of offshore wind projects, said that by the time the barrels were set up at South Shore, a significant amount of foam had already been collected by beachgoers and thrown in dumpsters.

Resident Travis Snow and friends spent considerable time at the beach and collected a sizable amount of debris — “a lot,” he said Monday.

While the foam bits are small, the styrofoam of which they’re made breaks up easily and that has raised concern of lingering impacts on the environment and sea life.

“This blade failure is going to be an environmental nightmare,” Gary Mataronas, a commercial fisherman and member of the Little Compton Town Council, wrote in a text to the Sakonnet Times late last week. “The materials just don’t go away. The sea life is going to ingest these shards and cut their throats and stomachs, and sea turtles are surface feeders so they’ll ingest it also.”

Thompson shared his concern over lingering effects:

“The foam pulverizes somewhat easily, so you can imagine as it is getting tumbled in the surf, each piece is diminishing in size, and all those nanoparticles are going into the ocean, adding to the plastics problem we already have.”

If you find debris

If you come across turbine debris, Westport and Little Compton officials encourage you to contact Vineyard Wind at (833) 609-5768 so it can be disposed of properly. In addition, Vineyard Wind has set up an online reporting system.

Westport also shared the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s emergency response number, (888) 304-1133, and the Westport Select Board, (508) 636-1003.

— With reports by Ruth Rasmussen

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