Broken Vineyard Wind Turbine Scatters Debris Along Nantucket’s South Shore; Wind Farm Operations Shut Down By Feds (Beaches Closed also)
https://nantucketcurrent.com/news/vineyard-wind-reports-turbine-blade-damage-in-offshore-incident
Excerpt:
Debris from a broken Vineyard Wind turbine blade washed up all over Nantucket’s south shore Tuesday morning, prompting the offshore energy company to mount a cleanup effort and the federal government to shut down the wind farm “until further notice.”
Residents began reporting pieces of green and white foam, along with larger pieces of what appears to fiberglass, along southern Nantucket beaches at daybreak, stretching from Madaket out to Nobadeer.
The federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement announced Tuesday afternoon that Vineyard Wind’s “operations are shut down until further notice.”
All south shore beaches were closed to swimming by the town just after 11 a.m. as a result of the debris. There is no estimate for when they will be reopened.
“The water is closed to swimming on all south shore beaches, due to large floating debris and sharp fiberglass shards,” Nantucket Harbormaster Sheila Lucey said. “You can walk on the beaches, however we strongly recommend you wear footwear due to sharp, fiberglass shards and debris on the beaches.”
Vineyard Wind disclosed Monday that one of its turbine blades suffered damage Saturday during an “offshore incident.” The exact nature of the incident is not yet known, but there were no injuries to any Vineyard Wind personnel or other mariners.
“The blade experienced a breakage approximately 20 meters out from the root,” according to company spokesman Craig Gilvarg. “The turbine was in its commissioning phase and was still undergoing testing. Nearly the entirety of the blade remains affixed to the turbine and has not fallen into the water.”
Vineyard Wind stated Tuesday that it is “mobilizing debris recovery teams on Nantucket to survey the southern-facing beaches of the island for the recovery of debris following the blade damage incident that took place on Saturday, July 13, 2024. In addition, Vineyard Wind remains focused on ensuring the safety of personnel and mariners in the offshore area, and continues to work with the U.S. Coast Guard to maintain a safety zone of 500 meters around the impacted turbine offshore.”
Federal Government Stretches Conservation Arm to Snatch More Private Land in Texas
As part of the since-rebranded “30×30” initiative, the Biden administration is attempting to take hundreds of thousands of acres of Texas land.
Excerpt:
Under the guise of “land protection,” the federal government aims to acquire 700,000 acres of private land in the Southern High Plains region—which sits along the Texas-New Mexico border.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently finalized its Land Protection Plan. The plan aims to acquire 700,000 acres of privately owned land and put it under federal control for “protection” in “perpetuity.” This is part of the federal government’s efforts to expand the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge—which feeds into the broader aim of the Biden administration: fulfilling the “30×30” initiative.
Through the “30×30” initiative, the Biden administration decided that 30 percent of the nation’s land and waters must be under federal control and management by 2030. President Biden launched the agenda via Executive Order 14008 on January 27, 2021.
However, American Stewards of Liberty explains that the initiative was rebranded as “America the Beautiful” after facing public backlash.
As the American Stewards highlight, the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge is attempting to expand the “acquisition boundary” from 6,440 acres in Texas and New Mexico to 7,000,000 acres—all without congressional authority. After they acquire more land, they plan to federalize 700,000 acres through buying the land or obtaining permanent conservation easements.
“Federally acquiring nearly three-quarter million acres from this region is a direct attack on the oil, gas, and mineral industries, agriculture production, and local economies,” the American Stewards write.
They also claim counties were not notified of the expansion.
“No direct notice was given to the counties or local governing authorities. The USFWS [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service] failed to coordinate this plan with the local governments as required by law.”
The expanded area grabs land in 15 Texas counties including Bailey, Castro, Cochran, Crosby, Dawson, Gaines, Garza, Hale, Hockley, Lamb, Lubbock, Lynn, Parmer, Terry, and Yoakum. The expansion into five counties in New Mexico includes land from Chaves, Curry, De Baca, Lea, and Roosevelt counties.
“This is a massive Federal expansion into Texas that is directly tied to the Biden Administration’s 30×30 land grab,” American Stewards of Liberty Executive Director Margaret Byfield told Texas Scorecard.
After listing two species as endangered in the region they are now providing the solution for landowners to deal with the coming land use restrictions – sell the land to the Federal government or sell a conservation easement forever committing that land to the Refuge. Removing 700,000 private acres will permanently erode agriculture production, oil and gas development, and the local economy.
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The first people that Trump should fire are these cretins.