by Boston (AP) After a huge wind turbine broke last year and its pieces washed up on beaches, officials in Massachusetts-Nantucket Island accused the developer of the country’s first utility-scale offshore wind project on Tuesday of failing to answer their safety questions since Donald Trump’s election.
Vineyard Wind was given two weeks by the Nantucket Select Board to address a set of criteria, one of which was that it adhere to the deadlines for informing local authorities of emergencies. Although it remained unclear how such a policy would be implemented, the town stated that violations might result in fines of up to $250,000.
According to board member Brooke Mohr, Vineyard Wind’s lack of communication can be attributed to the Trump administration’s mistrust over offshore wind projects.
The town said that private requests for modifications to its procedures have not been answered by Vineyard Wind, which is owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure and Denmark-based Avangrid Renewables in collaboration with Spain-based Iberdrola. If the town’s demands are not fulfilled, officials stated that litigation might be the next course of action.
During a virtual conference with news media, Mohr stated, “We think they are worried about the shift in federal policy and attracting attention from the new administration, which has ordered a review of offshore wind permitting practices.” But hiding isn’t the answer to their issues, and it’s not the answer to ours.
An important step in President Joe Biden’s ambitions to boost the United States’ reliance on offshore wind by 2030 was the administration’s approval of the project in May 2021, which is located approximately 14 miles (23 kilometers) off the adjacent island of Martha’s Vineyard.
After sections of the wind turbine blade at the Vineyard Wind project started falling into the Atlantic Ocean in July, fiberglass bits of the broken blade started to wash ashore last summer during the busiest travel season.
Federal authorities lifted a suspension order on the project in the latter days of the Biden administration, pending the removal of all installed GE Vernova blades.
GE Vernova blamed a manufacturing issue at one of its Canadian facilities for the blade collapse and said there was no trace of a design flaw. Earlier this month, the company agreed to pay $10.5 million in a settlement to compensate island businesses that lost money as a result of the blade failure. All factory-made blades were reinspected, and more factory-made blades were taken out of the Vineyard Wind facility.
Town authorities charged Vineyard Wind on Tuesday with breaking the law by failing to notify the town on a regular basis or to involve the town in its emergency response procedures after the blade failure. Additionally, it stated that Vineyard Wind has not gone far enough in lowering light pollution.
Citing Vineyard Wind’s lack of management, leadership, and transparency after the blade collapse, Nantucket officials declined to have the company sign the $10.5 million settlement. According to Mohr, the community did not assert its right to hold Vineyard Wind responsible in the settlement.
According to a Vineyard Wind representative, the company has expected to resume regular correspondence and coordination with the town in a way that facilitates a fruitful discussion after the settlement procedure is over.
According to the firm, Vineyard Wind thinks the settlement is a just and definitive result for all parties and expects the Town of Nantucket will follow the terms of the agreement and cooperate to build a friendly, productive partnership.
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