The town of Nantucket in Massachusetts has reached a settlement with GE Vernova for losses resulting from a turbine blade failure on the Vineyard Wind 1 project.
GE Vernova is to pay $10.5m compensation to Nantucket over the incident, which happened on 13 July 2024.
The blade failure led to foam, fibreglass, and other debris being scattered along Nantucket’s shores during the height of the summer tourist season, according to the town.
Under the agreement, Nantucket will establish a community claims fund to provide compensation for economic harm, it said.
Nantucket added it will engage an independent third-party administrator to evaluate claims from local businesses and issue payments.
Select board member and former chair Brooke Mohr said: “Offshore wind may bring benefits, but it also carries risks – to ocean health, to historic landscapes, and to the economies of coastal communities like Nantucket, known worldwide as an environmental and cultural treasure.”
Nantucket officials said that when the blade failed, debris settled on the ocean floor, entered the water table, and littered the town’s beaches for months, requiring an extensive clean-up effort in which many community members joined.
GE Vernova’s investigation attributed the failure to a manufacturing deviation. The company subsequently removed other Vineyard Wind blades produced in the same Quebec facility.
Greg Werkheiser of Cultural Heritage Partners, legal counsel to Nantucket for offshore wind matters, said: “Federal law limits localities’ influence in the design and approval of offshore wind projects, but communities have rights when it comes to safe operations of the farms.”
The town was also advised by the law firms KP Law and Wyche, and damages experts at Stout.
A GE Vernova spokesperson said: “We are pleased to have reached a final settlement agreement with the town of Nantucket to provide compensation for any impacted local businesses.”