More pieces of blade fell off an offshore Vineyard Wind turbine near Nantucket, Massachusetts, Monday. The rotary engine first experienced damage on July 13.
No Vineyard Wind workers were injured when the turbine was first damaged, and no one was reportedly hurt as debris continued to fall. The U.S. Coast Guard is maintaining a 500-meter exclusion zone around the engine for safety, Nantucket officials said.
No new sections of the damaged turbine blade had fallen off since July 18, when a section came off before sinking underwater.
Some of the latest debris sank into the water, while other pieces floated or landed on the turbine platform, Nantucket officials said in an update Monday.
The latest detachment of damaged blade parts was not unexpected, blade designer GE Vernova told Nantucket officials.
Vineyard Wind remains under a suspension order from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, part of the Interior Department, first levied on July 17.
Under the order, Vineyard Wind is banned from building turbine towers, blades or wind turbine covers. And power production from the company’s other turbines must stop.
While the cause of the turbine failure is being investigated, GE Vernova says a manufacturing error, not design, is at fault.
Each Vineyard Wind turbine stands over 800 feet, with the blades stretching 350 feet.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.