Scores of fishermen took to the seas Sunday to protest offshore wind developments after a damaged wind blade scattered toxic debris off the coast of Massachusetts.
The blade, a part of the Vineyard Wind development, broke on July 13, spilling Styrofoam, fiberglass and other debris, some of which ended up on Nantucket’s pristine beaches. The flotilla protested the effects of offshore wind on fish stocks and ocean navigation, with roughly 20 ships making a sixty-mile round trip from New Bedford, Massachusetts, to the site of the broken turbine, Jerry Leeman, CEO of the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA) and captain of the fishing vessel Teresa Marie, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“Vineyard Wind was supposed to be one of the premier offshore wind locations in the United States, and it failed before it even got started,” Leeman said. “Now the government is spending billions of dollars in taxpayer money for an experimental, floating offshore wind facility in Maine while openly admitting they have access to limited data on the effects it’ll have on sustainability.”
The federal government issued the state of Maine a lease to develop the U.S.’ first floating offshore wind farm on Aug. 19, according to The Associated Press. The project follows a 2023 bill signed by Democratic Gov. Janet Mills that aims to generate half of the state’s electricity using offshore wind by 2040, the outlet reported.
The Vineyard Wind protest brought fishermen from all over the East Coast, including Maine, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts, Leeman told the DCNF.
“We’re all unanimously concerned,” Leeman said. “They are spreading this technology along our coast and we’re not getting answers.”
At a town hall meeting on July 17, Nantucket lobsterman Dan Pronk noted the negative effects the Vineyard Wind debris would have on his business.
“I fish 800 lobster traps right where you’re putting these tombstones, which is also the end of my business… When you apply [fiberglass]… you have to wear respirators. For what reason? Because it’s toxic,” Pronk said at a town hall meeting. “If you breathe those fumes … you’ll get higher than a rat.”
Now, over a month later, Pronk told the DCNF that he continues to be bombarded with debris when he goes to haul his traps.
“At sunlight a few days ago there were white pieces of foam in every direction. I could probably see 40 or 50 pieces,” Pronk told the DCNF. “I made my living down there [by the Vineyard Wind turbines] for the last 25 years. Now I don’t put my gear anywhere them. I don’t want to have to look at them.”
🦞Nantucket lobsterman Dan Pronk, staring down the Vineyard Wind CEO, says
“I fish 800 lobster traps right where you’re putting these tombstones, which is also the end of my business.” pic.twitter.com/T9xqjjI0T4
— Nantucket Current (@ACKCurrent) July 17, 2024
Republished with permission from Daily Caller News Foundation
