Wind turbine maker to pay settlement after blade broke apart and washed up on Nantucket beaches

Advertisement

Advertise with us

NANTUCKET, Mass. (AP) — The maker of a massive wind turbine blade that broke apart off Nantucket Island and washed up on beaches for months has agreed to a $10.5 million settlement to pay local businesses for their economic losses, officials said Friday.

Read this article for free:


By clicking the button above, an account will be created and you will begin to receive some of our recommended newsletters. You may opt out of any newsletter by visiting your Email and Communication Preferences page or by clicking "unsubscribe" at the bottom of any email.

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $1.44 a week*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*Billed as $5.77 plus GST every four weeks. After 52 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/07/2025 (467 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NANTUCKET, Mass. (AP) — The maker of a massive wind turbine blade that broke apart off Nantucket Island and washed up on beaches for months has agreed to a $10.5 million settlement to pay local businesses for their economic losses, officials said Friday.

Fiberglass fragments of the blade began washing ashore last summer during the peak of tourist season after pieces of the wind turbine at the Vineyard Wind project began falling into the Atlantic Ocean in July 2024.

GE Vernova, which agreed to the settlement, blamed a manufacturing problem at one of its factories in Canada and said there was no indication of a design flaw. It reinspected all blades made at the factory and removed other blades made there from the Vineyard Wind location.

FILE - Giant wind turbine blades for the Vineyard Winds project are stacked on racks in the harbor, July 11, 2023, in New Bedford, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
FILE - Giant wind turbine blades for the Vineyard Winds project are stacked on racks in the harbor, July 11, 2023, in New Bedford, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

Crews in boats and on beaches, along with volunteers, collected truckloads of debris. The company said the debris was nontoxic fiberglass fragments and that the pieces were one square foot or smaller.

The settlement calls for establishing a fund along with a process to evaluate claims from businesses and distribute payments, Nantucket officials said.

The development’s massive wind turbines with blades more than 328 feet (100 meters) long began sending electricity to the grid at the beginning of 2024.

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

‘Canada is the best.’ Kinew applauds separatists’ failure in Alberta

Scott Billeck 2 minute read Preview

‘Canada is the best.’ Kinew applauds separatists’ failure in Alberta

Scott Billeck 2 minute read 4:35 PM CDT

Manitoba's Premier threw both hands in the air Tuesday, celebrating Albertans’ rejection of separation from Canada in a referendum one day earlier.

Read
4:35 PM CDT

Detox centre ready but staffing challenges persist

Scott Billeck 6 minute read Preview

Detox centre ready but staffing challenges persist

Scott Billeck 6 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

Peter McMullen’s decade-long struggle with addiction gives him insight into the challenges Lighthouse Mission hopes to address with a new Main Street detox facility focused on connecting people with longer-term treatment.

McMullen, executive director of Lighthouse Mission, knows how difficult it can be to navigate Winnipeg’s addiction treatment system, particularly when someone is ready to seek help but the services they need aren’t immediately available.

Now, after years of planning and a lengthy renovation of two century-old buildings, the downtown organization is preparing to open a 10-bed detox facility at 667 and 669 Main St., with five beds each for men and women.

The facility could begin accepting clients as early as November, provided Lighthouse Mission can overcome one final hurdle: recruiting enough staff to operate it.

Read
Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

Empty desks: Advocates talk chronic school absenteeism

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read Preview

Empty desks: Advocates talk chronic school absenteeism

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read Updated: 3:16 PM CDT

Concerned that school and government leaders are downplaying the state of student absenteeism, community organizers are strategizing to create urgency around who’s regularly missing class — and why — in Winnipeg.

The inaugural Youth at Risk in Winnipeg Symposium, held over the weekend at the Canadian Mennonite University, drew roughly 100 people to discuss barriers to attendance and brainstorm ways to remove them.

Nearly 20 years after he began calling attention to the issue, first as a volunteer with the Point Douglas Residents Committee, Sel Burrows gave an impassioned speech about the lack of political will to take meaningful action to help students from “dysfunctional homes.”

“I’ve dealt with nine cabinet ministers, Conservative and NDP, and five deputy ministers, and the issue has not gotten any better,” Burrows told teachers, reseachers and community support workers gathered Saturday on CMU’s Shaftesbury campus.

Read
Updated: 3:16 PM CDT

Maple leaf love: Albertans vote strongly to stay in Canada

Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Preview

Maple leaf love: Albertans vote strongly to stay in Canada

Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Updated: 5:00 AM CDT

EDMONTON - O Canada, Alberta is staying put.

In a historic referendum Monday, voters marked their ballots in overwhelming numbers to remain in the country that made Alberta a province 121 years ago.

In early returns, about 76 per cent of Albertans said yes to Confederation, while 24 per cent said they wanted the province to hold a second, binding referendum on leaving.

Both Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Prime Minister Mark Carney lauded the result.

Read
Updated: 5:00 AM CDT

Clay Stevenson credits therapeutic side of hockey in learning to live with mother’s suicide

Mike McIntyre 7 minute read Preview

Clay Stevenson credits therapeutic side of hockey in learning to live with mother’s suicide

Mike McIntyre 7 minute read Yesterday at 5:43 PM CDT

Hockey has always been more than just a game to Clay Stevenson. That was especially true after he suffered the biggest loss of his life: his mother, Holly, died by suicide seven years ago.

Read
Yesterday at 5:43 PM CDT

Dobson up against two tech types in St. James council race

Malak Abas 6 minute read Preview

Dobson up against two tech types in St. James council race

Malak Abas 6 minute read 5:19 PM CDT

Two tech-savvy newcomers to civic politics are taking on Shawn Dobson, the incumbent city councillor in St. James.

Tyler Crichton, a senior project manager for a corporate IT company, and Kelly Ryback, a retired manager with Bell MTS, are hoping to oust Dobson, who is seeking a second term in the ward.

Dobson has a long resumé as a candidate; he ran unsuccessfully in the former St. Charles ward in 2002, 2006 and 2010 before winning that council seat in 2014. He lost his bid for a second term in 2018 in St. James to then-councillor and current Mayor Scott Gillingham in 2018.

When Gillingham jumped into the 2022 mayoral race, Dobson secured the St. James seat.

Read
5:19 PM CDT