By Dean Geddes, dgeddes@inkym.com
After the Trump administration suspended the Empire Wind offshore energy project over claims of rushed approvals and inadequate analysis, Nantucket nonprofit ACK For Whales is urging federal regulators to take similar action against Vineyard Wind.
The group is calling for Vineyard Wind’s revised construction plan to be revoked due to unresolved safety and environmental concerns.
The island nonprofit, which opposes offshore wind development, has formally petitioned the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to rescind the construction and operations plan for Vineyard Wind 1.
The revised plan was approved Jan. 17, 2025, following a major turbine blade failure and the discovery of potential manufacturing defects affecting as many as 66 blades.
“On April 16, 2025, Doug Burgum, Secretary of Interior, directed BOEM to issue a suspension order of the Empire Offshore Wind project off New York, citing serious deficiencies in analyses and rushed approvals. Vineyard Wind 1, subject to the same highly expedited process, is replete with analytic deficiencies,” the petition states.
The group claims the revised operations plan fails to adequately assess the environmental risks posed by frequent blade failures, such as marine debris.
It also argues that the plan was approved without public comment, lacks a root cause analysis of the July 2024 blade failure and does not include sufficient response plans for future incidents.
“The public at large on Nantucket has had significant concerns go unanswered since the July 13, 2024, blade failure,” they noted.
The federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement agreed to take written public questions and answer them by Jan 4. BSEE received hundreds of questions from the public and the meeting was postponed to Feb. 3, then indefinitely postponed, according to announcements relayed by the Nantucket Select Board.
“Neither the broad set of questions submitted by the public or the answers to them were ever shared with the public,” the petition said.
The petition was signed by ACK For Whales members Vallorie Oliver, Amy DiSibio and Veronica Bonnet. The full petition can be found here.
On Wednesday, Burgum directed BOEM to halt construction of Empire Wind, a fully-permitted project planned off the coast of Long Island. He said it needed further review because its permitting was potentially rushed by the Biden administration.
Vineyard Wind 1, the nation’s first utility-scale offshore wind facility, when completed, will include 62 turbines that will generate enough electricity to power 400,000 homes and businesses, according to the Vineyard Wind website.
The Inquirer and Mirror on Nantucket is a news partner of MassLive.com. To subscribe to The Inquirer and Mirror, click here.
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