Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE)

On Tuesday morning, the Nantucket Select Board blasted Vineyard Wind and gave the company 2 weeks to respond to their 15 demands. The Nantucket Current provides good coverage of the press conference. The specific demands are listed below.

1. Text emergency notifications to designated Town officials within 1 hour.
2. Alert the same officials when blade monitors detect anomalies.
3. Share with Nantucket the content of any written communications with or from federal agencies regarding project failures that have impacts on Nantucket.
4. Email detailed monthly project updates to the Select Board and Town Manager.
5. Present updates and take public questions at Select Board meetings upon request and no less than quarterly.
6. Respond to written questions from the Select Board within three business days.
7. Provide relevant project reports within 1 week of submission to any agency.
8. Share all studies or data reports on adverse effects within five business days of receipt.
9. Disclose correspondence with regulatory agencies within 15 business days.
10. Notify the Town if the company is asserting any confidentiality claims to shield public disclosure of reports or data in regulatory filings.
11. Pay liquidated damages ($250,000) per violation of the above communication protocols.
12. Pay liquidated damages ($25,000) per turbine per day) for each day that turbine lights are on without the Aircraft Detection and Lighting System (ADLS) being active.
13. Within 2 months, initiate a process to seek public input on new emergency response plans—including blade failure scenarios.
14. Establish and maintain a $10 million escrow fund to ensure coverage of cleanup costs from future failures.
15. Permanently suspend new projects if any future incident forces beach closures or shellfish harvesting bans for seven consecutive days or 14 total days in any 6-month period.

I observed the press conference on the Town’s YouTube channel, and my sense is that this may be Vineyard Wind’s last chance to amicably resolve these issues. Board member Dawn Hill, who now regrets signing the increasingly unpopular Good Neighbor Agreement with Vineyard Wind, didn’t hold back when she said:

“These wind turbines are bigger, brighter, and much more impactful than we ever thought, and not to mention the environmental hazard from failures. But my choice would be with our new, federal administration to really wake up and try and put an end to these things, because they’re not worth it to the coast of the United States.”