The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head in Massachusetts is asking the federal government to halt all offshore wind construction after a splintered wind blade fell into the ocean off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard.
The blade broke off one of Vineyard Wind’s turbines last week, sending large pieces of fiberglass debris into the water and halting construction of the 64-turbine wind array, one of the first major ocean wind projects in the United States.
Chair Cheryl Andrews-Maltais of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head expressed “strong concerns and outrage” over the incident in a July 18 letter to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. Andrews-Maltais said federal agencies had not reached out to the tribe immediately following the incident and demanded better communication going forward.
“It is concerning that there has been a lack of outreach and consultation with our federally recognized Tribe, especially given our expressed vested interest in the protection of our ancestral waters,” the letter states.
