Chris Perry Column: Don't Say I Didn't Warn You

For residents on the south shore of Nantucket, you could have seen this coming about 15 miles away.

Compliments of Vineyard Wind, the “non-toxic fiberglass fragments” recently delivered to Nantucket’s south shore represent only a fraction of what’s heading our way.

To those who participated in the clean-up effort including Nantucket lifeguards, Land Bank staff, island citizens, and concerned visitors, you earned a well-deserved “thank you” from the Nantucket community but don’t sit down because this is not over.

In fact, it’s just the beginning.

The foreshadowing of what’s to come was ominously delivered last Wednesday night when Jennifer Cullen, Vineyard Wind’s senior manager of labor relations and workforce development, advised the Select Board that: “The remaining section of the blade is compromised and more debris has fallen into the ocean…”

With that and knowing the ebb and flow of the ocean tides are influenced by the prevailing southwest summer wind, it is inevitable that more debris will wash up on our island beaches throughout the summer.

Thankfully, no one was injured and, this time around, the environmental disaster was not an oil spill or severed cable. But with six weeks to go in Nantucket’s summer season, that’s hardly comforting news.

It is no secret that I have been an outspoken critic of this massive offshore wind energy boondoggle from day one. Through previously penned columns in the Current, I have questioned the financial viability, location, and impact on the Nantucket community. And more importantly, I continue to express my doubts and suspicions regarding the Good Neighbor Agreement which Nantucket’s Select Board unanimously signed. With co-signers Nantucket Preservation Trust and the Maria Mitchel Association tagging along for the financial ride, Vineyard Wind LLC set the turbine blades in motion for this environmental disaster back in August 2020 when this GNA was first signed.

But, as sad as it sounds, I think it took last week’s “offshore incident” to finally wake the quiet masses. As the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement shut down Vineyard Wind’s operation last Tuesday, a steady wave of vocal opposition has gained momentum. Frankly, it doesn’t take a team of BSEE experts working with Vineyard Wind to analyze the situation and come to the obvious conclusion that these offshore wind farms in Nantucket’s backyard will have a significant, negative impact on this island for years to come.

Are my personal objections selfishly based from a Nantucket perspective?

Damn right.

It is a waste of time for me to pursue answers from Klaus Moeller, Vineyard’s Wind CEO, or Roger Martella, GE’s Chief Sustainability Officer who both attended last week’s Select Board meeting.

Do you really think they are going to take my call or any call from a local community member?

Be that as it may, as a member of the Nantucket community, what I do have at my disposal is our local Select Board and that’s where I want to start.

I believe the Select Board’s outrage and frustration regarding this specific “crisis” is real. It was evident in their tone last Wednesday night. As community members voiced their fury and anger over this "environmental disaster,” I believe Select Board Chair Mohr will hold Vineyard Wind accountable.

But, there was an opportunity missed on Wednesday night. There’s been an opportunity missed every day since then.

It was the perfect opportunity to show the Nantucket community that actions do speak louder than words. It was an opportunity to admit a mistake that took place in August of 2020. It was an opportunity to clean the slate by publicly announcing steps were underway to withdraw from the present Good Neighbor Agreement.

I’m not sure whether the Select Board was unwilling or unable to engage in that public discussion. But you can’t have it both ways.

The juxtaposition of expressing outrage and condemnation towards Vineyard Wind sounds disingenuous when you are a willing co-signer of the Good Neighbor Agreement especially when “the purpose of that agreement is to establish a long-term relationship between Vineyard Wind and the Nantucket Parties and more generally, the Nantucket Community, to support and promote the Parties mutual interests….”

As a member of that “Nantucket Community”, I am not interested in promoting what’s in the best interest of Vineyard Wind. I am interested in promoting what’s in the best interest of Nantucket and I think our Select Board should do the same.

This is not the first time the Select Board has had a bite at the Good Neighbor Agreement apple.

Just recently, at Town Meeting in May of 2024, a non-binding citizen petition asked the town of Nantucket to withdraw from the existing GNA.

The Select Board opposed it.

At the same Town Meeting, a second non-binding article required the Select Board to bring updates to the Town Meeting floor on any future Good Neighbor Agreements.

The Select Board opposed it.

Tomorrow at noon, the Select Board will have another opportunity. They will convene in open session and then go into executive session behind closed doors to “discuss strategy with respect to potential litigation in connection with Vineyard Wind”. While the topic of the Good Neighbor Agreement was not specifically mentioned on the agenda, it should be.

Efforts to get the Select Board to engage in any public discussion or debate on the merits of the Good Neighbor Agreement have fallen on deaf ears. This only adds more fuel to the fire that an indirect, unwritten gag order is in place resulting in tepid responses that are guarded with legal ambiguity from town officials thus stifling public debate.

The Select Board is not alone.

The Nantucket Preservation Trust was a co-signer on the Good Neighbor Agreement.

I have reached out to NPT’s executive director, Mary Bergman, several times regarding the non-profit’s position on the GNA. Moreover, with a mission to “protect, promote and preserve the island’s architectural heritage and sense of place”, how does one reconcile that with the potential of over 1000 turbines off our south shore that permanently scar our viewshed knowing that Nantucket was designated as a National Historic Landmark?

To date, there has been no response.

Maria Mitchell Association was a co-signer on the Good Neighbor Agreement.

Former Select Board member Jason Bridges signed the Good Neighbor Agreement on behalf of the Maria Mitchell Association in his capacity as its executive director.

Unlike others, Maria Mitchell through its present executive director Joanne Roche has responded to inquiries and expressed concerns about future projects such as Beacon Wind and South Coast Wind.

Nevertheless, even if our eyes are turned towards the stars, we’d like to hear how MMA reconciles its mission of “developing a life-long passion for science through education, research, and first-hand exploration of the sky, land, and sea of Nantucket Island” with Vineyard Wind’s goal of building 1,300-foot turbines off Nantucket’s shore.

Where’s Cultural Heritage Partners?

Hired to provide legal support and advice in our negotiations with Vineyard Wind and the Good Neighbor Agreement, Cultural Heritage Partner’s founding partner Greg Werkheiser’s only public comment to the Nantucket community since last week’s environmental disaster was a brief cameo appearance via Zoom last Wednesday night. While he referenced the Good Neighbor Agreement, there was no legal statement that appeared to calm the public. No plans to meet up with Bill Connell and the Clean Team on Surfside Beach.

All roads seem to lead back to Cultural Heritage Partners, and as they hunker down in their DC bunker, I think they know what’s coming.

The clock is ticking. The longer the town of Nantucket, Nantucket Preservation Trust, and the Maria Mitchell Association stay engaged in the Good Neighbor Agreement, the harder it will be for them to justify their initial decision which includes promoting Vineyard Wind’s agenda.

In the end, it is the Nantucket Select Board that must lead the way because they steer our ship. Right now, the only thing that is more visible to the Nantucket community than the debris piling up on the island’s beaches is Dawn Hill Holdgate’s signature acting as chair on the current Good Neighbor Agreement. Until that is erased and the existing Good Neighbor Agreement is voided, it will hang over the Select Board’s head and the necks of the entire Nantucket community like a damaged 13-megawatt, GE Vernova Haliade-X wind turbine.

In a previous column titled N.I.O.B.Y., I referred to Robert Frost’s famous quote about what makes for a good neighbor - “Good fences make good neighbors” - and concluded that rows and rows of 1,100-foot wind turbines pile-driven into the ocean floor, looming over Nantucket’s south shore and dominating our pristine ocean views makes for terrible ones.

I still feel that way.

But today, I also can’t help but think of Maria Mitchell herself who once quipped: “Question everything…”

So, with a nod to Maria, I have to ask:

Why are we still members of the Good Neighbor Agreement?

Editors note / correction: An earlier version of this column incorrectly stated that Cultural Heritage Partners' Greg Werkheiser did not mention the Good Neighbor Agreement in his comments at the Select Board meeting. He did in fact mention the agreement.