Tag Archives: NEFSA CEO Jerry Leeman
Mass. and Rhode Island pick 3 new wind projects, with less power than originally sought
Massachusetts and Rhode Island announced the winners of their joint offshore wind auction on Friday. While this total is less than half of what the states originally sought to procure, it helps bring them closer to their legally binding offshore wind targets. Friday’s news comes after nearly two years of economic tumult in the industry, when developers up and down 
the East Coast canceled contracts for wind projects, saying they could not make them financially viable because of inflation, higher interest rates and supply chain problems. Still, not everyone is celebrating the news. Jerry Leeman, CEO of the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association, said he was “shocked” that the New England states are awarding more contracts less than two months after a blade broke off a Vineyard Wind Project turbine. In mid-July, the blade sent tons of fiberglass and foam debris into the ocean. Much of it washed up on the south side of Nantucket, and several beaches had to close while the material was cleaned up. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:20
‘We’ve Been Steamrolled’: Fishermen Protest Offshore Wind Following Turbine Failure That Shed Debris Into Atlantic
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. “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. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 15:04
