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Developer of Massachusetts offshore wind farm sues to stop turbine manufacturer from walking away

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Developer of Massachusetts offshore wind farm sues to stop turbine manufacturer from walking away


The developer of a major Massachusetts offshore wind farm is suing its turbine manufacturer seeking to force it to stay with the project.

Vineyard Wind filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Massachusetts against GE Renewables. That comes after the parent company for GE Renewables said it would be terminating its contracts for turbine services and maintenance at the end of April.

GE Vernova says Vineyard Wind owes it $300 million for work it performed. But Vineyard Wind counters that the manufacturer remains on the hook for about $545 million to make up for a catastrophic turbine blade collapse in July 2024 and the delays that caused.

Fiberglass fragments of a blade broke apart and began washing onto Nantucket beaches in July 2024 during the peak of tourist season. GE Vernova agreed to pay $10.5 million in a settlement to compensate island businesses that suffered losses.

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The lawsuit states that the project already has been significantly damaged by GE Renewable’s “inexcusably poor performance,” and allowing the contractor to back out now would case irreparable harm. Craig Gilvarg, spokesman for Vineyard Wind, said Friday that the lawsuit is meant to ensure that GE Renewables fulfills its obligations to the project “and to the people of Massachusetts and New England who are relying on the significant power and economic benefits this project is already providing.” He said Vineyard Wind is expected to provide $3.7 billion in savings to electric customers over the life of the project.

GE Vernova said the company is exercising its right to terminate agreements for nonpayment for work performed.

“The company remains committed to the safety of the wind farm and stands by our performance and our contractual obligations,” the company said in a statement. “We will vigorously defend our position through the appropriate legal process.”

Construction finished on Vineyard Wind in March, making it the first project to reach this stage during President Donald Trump’s time in office. It had already been providing power to the grid for over a year as more turbines were finished. It is expected to reach full operations in the coming months.

According to the lawsuit, GE Renewables is the only company able to perform the remaining work, and it would be virtually impossible to find another turbine supplier willing to take its place. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday.

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GE Vernova has said that insufficient bonding at one of its factories in Canada was responsible for the blade coming apart and that there was no indication of a design flaw. Sixty-eight out of the 72 blades that had been installed at Vineyard Wind at the time were removed and replaced. Vineyard Wind said that set the project behind nearly two years.

The Trump administration has been particularly critical of the project because of the blade failure.

It was one of five major East Coast offshore wind projects the Trump administration halted construction on days before Christmas, citing national security concerns. Developers and states sued, and federal judges allowed all five to resume construction, essentially concluding that the government did not show that the national security risk was so imminent that construction must halt.

Vineyard Wind is a joint venture between Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, located 15 miles (24 kilometers) south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, Massachusetts. It has 62 turbines that will generate a total of 800 megawatts. That is enough clean electricity to power about 400,000 homes.

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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.



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Massachusetts

Swimmer pulled from Houghton’s Pond after search

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Swimmer pulled from Houghton’s Pond after search


A teenager was pulled from a pond in Milton, Massachusetts, after he went missing while swimming Saturday night.

The Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office said the teenaged male was taken to a Boston area hospital following the incident at Houghton’s Pond. It’s unclear how long the teen was under water, and there was no immediate word on his condition.

State police had said earlier that they responded to the pond shortly after 7 p.m. for a person who entered the water and didn’t resurface. State police divers, detectives, troopers, and the Milton Fire Department were all on scene involved in the search.

The DA’s office is conducting an investigation with state police that remains ongoing. Further information is not being released at this time.

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This story will be updated when we learn more



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Mass. man charged with posing as teen, exposing himself to 12-, 13-year-old girls

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Mass. man charged with posing as teen, exposing himself to 12-, 13-year-old girls


A Massachusetts man is facing multiple charges for allegedly engaging in inappropriate communications and exposing himself to children.

Orate Kyle Graham, 20, of Bridgewater, was arrested this week on two counts of disseminating obscene material to a minor and one count of accosting or annoying another person.

Bridgewater police said they were made aware Tuesday of allegations involving interactions between several girls age 12 and 13 and an individual known to them only as “Jay.” The individual said he was 17 years old during conversations with the girls through FaceTime and in person.

Through an investigation, police identified “Jay” as Graham, and also found that he had regularly engaged in interactions with the minor victims. During those interactions, he allegedly exposed himself and asked the girls to expose themselves to him.

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He was arrested Thursday and taken to the Plymouth County House of Correction, where he was held on $25,000 bail. The case remains under investigation by Bridgewater police and the Plymouth District Attorney’s Office.



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Fisherman reels in white shark off Massachusetts, then snags the hook from its toothy mouth

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Fisherman reels in white shark off Massachusetts, then snags the hook from its toothy mouth


BILLERICA, Mass. (AP) — Elliot Sudal didn’t need a bigger boat, but he did need to find a way to get a hook out of a shark’s mouth.

Sudal, a veteran angler and boat captain, reeled in the nearly nine-foot shark — also commonly known as a great white shark or a great white — on June 7 on Nantucket. White sharks are a protected species in the U.S. and must be released immediately when accidentally caught.

That presents a nasty problem for a fisherman because the white shark is a formidable apex predator best known for the 1975 movie Jaws, in which Roy Scheider utters the famous line “You’re gonna need a bigger boat” upon seeing the big fish. Sudal, who caught the shark while fishing from shore, decided to use his encounter to demonstrate how to respond to such a situation.

Sudal posted a video of himself removing the hook to his social media accounts. In the video, Sudal climbs onto the back of the shark, secures the fish in the surf, and removes the hook from its mouth. By the end of the short video, the shark is back in the water.

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White sharks typically have about 300 teeth arranged into five rows, so speed was key.

“Hooks out and back on her way in 15 seconds, not sure how to do it better,” Sudal wrote in an Instagram post that included a video of the shark release.

Sudal is no stranger to sharks, and has caught and tagged hundreds of them over the years. He said in a social media post that this month’s encounter with a white shark was the first time he has ever caught one of them in more than a decade of the work.

Sudal’s practices have sometimes attracted the attention of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, such as in 2017, when the agency investigated his handling of a smalltooth sawfish, an endangered species, in Florida. The agency said in 2018 that it sent Sudal a letter “informing him of the Endangered Species Act issues and the safe handling protocol for sawfish.”

White sharks are not listed under the federal Endangered Species Act, but are subject to special federal protections. The International Union for Conservation of Nature considers them vulnerable globally.

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Sightings of white sharks off New England have ticked up in recent years, and some scientists have pinned that to the greater availability of the seals that they prey on. Dangerous encounters between white sharks and humans are extremely rare, and only a few dozen fatal white shark bites on people have ever been recorded.

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Whittle reported from Portland, Maine.

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.





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