Facebook User StopSolar Farms Posted a Comment in the Stop Solar Farms Facebook Group
July 27, 20
On April 28, 2020, the Massachusetts Attorney General filed a lawsuit against a Solar Farm Developer alleging “irreparable harm” caused by the polluting of a River and damage to protected wetlands.
The lawsuit claims the solar developer violated Federal and State water protection laws during the construction of an 18.5 acre solar farm.
Stormwater pollution is regulated under a variety of federal Clean Water Act permits and is recognized as the largest threat to water quality. By not having the legally required storm-water controls, the construction caused “sediment-laden storm-water to erode the hillside, effecting perennial and intermittent streams, uprooting trees and covering more then an acre of new sediment pollution in the river, thus causing irreparable damage to the river.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, sediment pollution is the “MOST” significant way water quality in streams and rivers is degraded and this lawsuit claims the food chain for various fish has been damaged by killing organisms on which certain fish depend on.
Hopefully, it can give some ammunition to other communities that are trying to protect their land.
Quote" The director of the project development, told town officials that the soil was good for avoiding runoff and that no trees would have to be cut to make way for the solar arrays.
Around 6 months after the construction was finished, a local resident presented a photo to the Conservation Commission, showing some of the damage caused by the storm drainwater from the construction of the solar farm and informed the commission that some of the ditches had reached a depth of 20 feet and contained full grown trees.
Read more at:https://stopsolarfarms.com/news/state-s ... tion.html?