Maria Mitchell Association Pulls Out Of "Good Neighbor Agreement" With Vineyard Wind
Jason Graziadei •
The Nantucket-based non-profit group The Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) announced Wednesday that it was pulling out of so-called "Good Neighbor Agreement" with Vineyard Wind, alleging the company had breached the terms of the agreement signed back in August 2020.
"This decision was not made lightly," MMA executive director Joanna Roche wrote in a letter sent to supporters of the organization on Wednesday. "For the past several years, as more information became available regarding additional wind turbine projects, the aggregate impact of the lighting on each turbine, and the recent blade failure, it became increasingly clear to us that the impact on our night skies and our island community was not something we could support."
The MMA was a co-signer of the agreement along with the town of Nantucket and another non-profit group, the Nantucket Preservation Trust. The deal bound the town and those organizations to commit their support to the offshore wind energy project in exchange for $16 million to mitigate the potential historical, cultural, and economic impacts of the turbines on Nantucket. Vineyard Wind also agreed to several other concessions, including removal of the closest row of turbines, panting the turbines a “non-reflective off-white/light gray color to blend into the horizon” and to install an aircraft detection lighting system (ADLS) which will only turn on if there is an aircraft in proximity to the turbines.
The Good Neighbor Agreement has been roundly criticized by island residents opposed to the Vineyard Wind project, and following the blade failure on July 13 that sent debris onto Nantucket's beaches, those objections have only grown louder. A new non-profit group made up of island residents and businesses known as Keep Nantucket Wild is preparing to submit a petition to the Nantucket Select Board with more than 2,000 signatures urging the town to also withdraw from the agreement with Vineyard Wind.
Roche told the Current Wednesday that the MMA's decision to pull out of the agreement was the result of a unanimous vote of the organization's 16-person board of directors.
The MMA informed Vineyard Wind of the decision in a letter to Lars Thaaning Pedersen, the CEO of its parent company Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, a Danish investment firm, on Oct. 8. The letter claims Vineyard Wind breached the Good Neighbor Agreement in its conduct following the July 13 blade failure off Nantucket, as well as through its failure to get the ADLS system operational.
"Not only did your company fail to cooperate with us regarding the development, permitting, construction, operations, and maintenance of the Projects, but when this marine cataclysm occurred, Vineyard Wind failed to notify Nantucket officials and residents — including our Association — to enable us to respond to this environmental disaster," the letter states. "To date, remarkably, there has been no outreach from Vineyard Wind to the Association regarding the turbine failure or any other of your company’s other obligations under the Agreement."