A week after debris from the broken Vineyard Wind turbine washed up on Edgartown beaches, state officials said they are investigating potential harm to the region’s seafood but don’t see a need to immediately stop eating shellfish.

Representatives with the state Department of Environmental Protection and Division of Marine Fisheries, as well as several federal agencies that are involved in offshore wind energy, met with the Nantucket select board Wednesday to talk about the fallout of the turbine blade that collapsed into the ocean on July 13. 

Though thousands of pieces of fiberglass and styrofoam went into the water, both state agencies told Nantucketers that they saw no need to halt shellfishing in the region, but remained committed to monitoring the situation. 

Wendy Heiger-Bernays, the chief of research at the state Department of Environmental Protection, and Chrissy Petitpas, an aquaculture biologist at the state Division of Marine Fisheries, came before the board to give their thoughts on the potential harm to marine life. 

After reviewing initial reports and data from the turbine manufacturer, Ms. Heiger-Bernays said the debris posed a threat to beachgoers and boaters, but it is unlikely to be a significant risk to aquatic organisms chemically-speaking.

That said, the department offered its expertise to help craft water quality studies and review any findings.

After hearing concerns about turbine pieces getting into nearby shellfish, Ms. Petitpas said fiberglass and microplastics have already been recorded in the food chain going back about a decade and this type of debris is commonly seen in areas near active boat yards.

“So it will be difficult to really assess the impact of these additional contaminants produced by this incident from the background,” she said. 

That said, much of the research around the health risks associated with these particles in the environment is still in its early stage and there are no public health standards around it, Ms. Petitpas said.

DMF is consulting with U.S. Food and Drug Administration shellfish specialists and the state Department of Public Health, but didn’t advise any changes to shellfish harvesting and consumption as of right now. 

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Fish and Wildlife also had leaders at the select board meeting Wednesday to detail their patchwork approach to monitoring the broken turbine and how things will move forward.

Power generation at the turbines will remain shut down until BSEE concludes its investigation into the incident. The agency’s renewable energy operations director Cheri Hunter said the government is considering new safety protocols in the wake of the failure.

“BSEE is currently exploring requiring a plan, such as a marine debris recovery plan, as a component of the company’s safety management system,” she told the board. 

Similarly, David Diamond, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management deputy chief for Atlantic operations, said the agency is reviewing its procedures to see if any changes were needed to strengthen and build on the lessons learned in this breakage.

Though debris started showing up on the Vineyard last week, with confirmed pieces of styrofoam floating up on Wasque, South Beach and Norton Point — as well as further afield in  Westport and Falmouth — most of the large pieces of fiberglass have been washing ashore on Nantucket. 

GE Vernova, the manufacturer of the turbine, said Wednesday that it has upped its efforts to reinspect all of its blades after the break. Technicians are taking a second look at past scans of the 150 or so blades either on already built turbines or on ones ready to be installed, and new plans to physically inspect them have been put into place. 

GE Vernova chief sustainability officer Roger Martella also said fiber optic sensors will be put into place to stress test blades, giving the company a heads up should another blade show signs of weakness.

The renewable energy company hopes to get the rest of the dangling blade off the turbine ahead of a storm headed for the region this weekend. But if it can’t, there are chances more debris could be headed towards the Islands. 

“There is a possibility that the 22-meter per second projected winds could impact that, and then we would execute the recovery plans that we’ve been doing,” Mr. Martella said.