Emergency crews respond to damaged wind turbine on Boston’s Deer Island

By WCVB Staff

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    BOSTON (WCVB) — Numerous emergency crews responded to Boston’s Deer Island on Monday morning after a problem involving one of the wind turbines there.

Deer Island is home to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority’s wastewater treatment plant and two wind turbines are located on the southwest side of the island. The island also features walking trails and space for picnicking.

Footage of the 100-foot-tall turbine appears to show it wobbling before a piece flies off and lands with an audible crash. Later video appears to show something hanging off one of the three blades as it continues to turn.

According to MWRA officials, the turbine has been offline and locked since April 2022 because it was broken.

“Although it’s too soon to speculate on what happened, it appears that this morning’s strong winds broke the braking mechanism and the turbine began to free spin,” officials wrote in a statement.

MWRA officials said public access near the turbines is being restricted until the issue can be resolved.

“MWRA’s contractor is on-site and is trying to stop the turbine. If they cannot, they will let it spin until the wind dies down,” officials wrote.

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