NANTUCKET, MASS. (WHDH) - Crews collected debris off Nantucket beaches and tracked other floating debris off the Nantucket coast Monday, more than a week after an offshore wind turbine blade broke apart, spilling foam and fiberglass into the Atlantic Ocean.
The initial incident happened on July 14 at a Vineyard Wind turbine just over 20 miles south of Nantucket. Officials did not say what specifically damaged the blade but said the incident happened during a test.
In an update Monday morning, Nantucket town officials confirmed new debris washed ashore on the south side of Nantucket Sunday. Officials said Vineyard Wind and General Electric sent cleanup crews to the beaches to retrieve what ended up being mostly small pieces of foam.
The town of Nantucket said crews collected more debris early Monday morning.
Debris first reached Nantucket last week, prompting a brief closure of south shore beaches. After a week of frustration about the turbine incident and Vineyard Wind’s response to it, Nantucket officials said authorities were tracking a large piece of debris near Madequecham Beach Sunday.
With the debris was no longer visible from shore Monday morning, authorities were planning a helicopter flight to locate the item and help crews retrieve it.
The town of Nantucket said additional crews remained in boats offshore working to remove still floating foam and fiberglass shards.
A large piece of the damaged turbine blade fell into the water on Thursday, five days after the initial damage.
As of Monday, officials said authorities had located the piece that fell last week but had not yet retrieved it. Additional portions of the damaged blade were still hanging from the turbine.
Nantucket elected officials are scheduled to meet behind closed doors in an executive session Tuesday ahead of a public meeting Wednesday night as they consider “recovery costs associated with the blade failure.”
After a tense meeting last Wednesday, Vineyard Wind and General Electric representatives are scheduled to appear back before the Select Board during this week’s public meeting with new information about the situation.
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