Nantucket's wealthy had another problem on their beaches this week

18.07.2024 - 09:55 / insider.com / Barry Sternlicht

A windmill ruined a beautiful day on the billionaire hot spot of Nantucket.

The blade of an offshore wind turbine broke into pieceslast week and washed ashore on tony Nantucket, the Massachusetts island favored by New Englanders and the very wealthy. The debris — sharp fiberglass in some cases — caused numerous beaches to close to swimmers on Tuesday and promoted local media to deploy full coverage as locals pitched in to help clean up.

The litter came from Vineyard Wind, a clean energy project 15 miles off the coast of the nearby island of Martha's Vineyard. The turbines' blades measure more than 350 feet long, meaning damage to just one can leave a lot of trash.

The company, which did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, said in a statement that the blade was damaged on Saturday. In a separate statement, it said it was deploying 35 people to help with the cleanup effort and that all debris was not toxic, though it did not elaborate on why the damage occurred. About 17 cubic yards of debris were found in total.

According to local outlets, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement issued a suspension order to cease operation until the other turbines can be cleared of similar failures.

Still, all Nantucket beaches were fully open by Wednesday, though the island's Harbormaster cautioned people to wear shoes and keep pets off certain areas.

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But debris in the water is far from the only environmental problem affecting Nantucket, where rising sea levels, flooding, and erosion are causing multimillion-dollar homes to sell at steep discounts in hopes they have one or two more summers in them before they are washed away.

By 2070, more than 2,300 buildings on Nantucket — 84% of the homes — will be at risk of coastal flooding or erosion, according to projections from the town's 2021 Coastal Resilience Plan.

In April, billionaire Barry Sternlicht's home was demolished due to property damage caused by erosion. Others have paid seven figures to move their homes away from the island's shrinking bluffs or millions of dollars in attempts to keep erosion at bay through various technologies.

The changing climate hasn't caused much of a change to demand on the island, where billionaires like Blackstone's Steve Schwarzman and former Googler Eric Schmidt have homes. Last year's median sale price on the island was $3.2 million — up $1.3 million from five years earlier, according to data from local firm Fisher Real Estate.

It looks like snow, rain, hail, and a little wind turbine debris won't be enough to turn people off of the Gray Lady.