"When they're done using it as a solar field, it can be returned to farmland."
substack.com@alexandrafasulo/note/c-172439648
Oh no, it can't.
I was tipped off to this earlier this week and spent some time verifying this information on the NY Ag & Market website. All of this information is verifiable right on Google.
Shockingly, everything I was tipped off to is true. And the public needs to know it.
As of today, in New York State, the decommissioning process, per the Dept. of Ag &
Markets, states that all solar 'farms' in agricultural districts need to be decommissioned to 4 feet below the soil surface. No further.
The problem is that large utility-scale solar installations often include:
- High-voltage collection lines buried 4–6 feet below grade or deeper
- Transmission conduits can be 6–10 feet depending on frost depth and code
- Concrete ballast or pier foundations (only the top 3–4 feet removed) lower portions are left
- Grounding systems: long copper grounding rods driven 8–20 feet into the soil
- Junction boxes and splice vaults abandoned below the 4-ft mark
- Rock and gravel compaction beneath panel rows are never fully removed
- PVC/HDPE conduit banks are left in the soil
The NYS decommissioning guideline emphasizes that "removal only need be practical" since "deeper removal is too expensive."
When you leave the long list of equipment above buried in the ground below 4 feet, you're also leaving: metal, copper, aluminum, PVC plastic, contaminated backfill, concrete footers, and deep grounding grids, making the land completely unusable. It's the same thing as an ex-industrial or manufacturing site. It becomes a brown site.
Major solar projects convert farmland into an industrial site, permanently, even after the panels are gone.
I went ahead and looked up the decommissioning plan for the 1,800-acre Fort Edward Solar project, and sure enough, in the agricultural areas a maximum depth of 4 feet is required... and for the residential areas, only 3 feet is required.
The solar company, Boralex, and ORES are arguing that the land is still usable by farmers and animals.
That is a blatant and fundamental lie, and what they are doing will turn this grassland habitat into a permanent industrial site. The metals, plastics, wires, and toxins will poison the soil for centuries to come.
Now, this is something industrial corporate businesses already do in commercial business settings. The problem here is the government is blatantly and legally lying to its citizens by claiming:
1) These are "farms"
2) The soil is still usable
3) The land can be reverted to farmland or habitat after
They are lying at the doorsteps of these farmers, convincing them the land is arable in the future. This cannot be allowed to continue and should be tried in court to the fullest extent of the law.
Solar corporations are receiving blatant government protection while the environment is destroyed. We cannot allow our government to treat its citizens, and more importantly, its environment like this.
I am working to raise money through the American Land Rescue Fund to hire a legal team to take ALL of this to court. We are working swiftly and appreciate your support.
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