Protect Spotsylvania:

Erosion and Runoff

Erosion and Runoff Could Cause Severe Environmental Damage

Essex County, VA

Most of the 6,350 forested acres have been logged and will be cleared. Significant soil regrading is anticipated to provide vast flat fields for the solar panels.

Specific plans are needed to prevent severe muddy runoff problems, such as recently encountered in Essex County due to construction of a 200 acre solar farm -- after only 1/2" of rain. See article below, and CBS Channel 6 video here. Six months after the "ribbon cutting", work is still underway to address the runoff problems. This is an "active enforcement case" of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

The soil in our area is not hydric, so rainwater will not percolate into the soil, but instead will rapidly runoff the Virginia clay which will be exposed by regrading the site. As noted on our Toxic Materials page, if the runoff contains such materials, big problems might arise such as water contamination, killing of fish and the endangered dwarf wedgemussel, etc.

Several environmentally important streams run through the property. Robertson Run and McCracken Creek are designated Threatened and Endangered Species Waters. Runoff would flow into the Po, Mattaponi, and York Rivers, and then into the Chesapeake Bay. In addition, Plentiful Creek has a “moderate” environmental significance rating. These waterways and wetlands must be protected to avoid environmental harm, which could flow all the way into the Chesapeake.

The reason that sPower must buy 6350 acres to install 3500 acres of solar panels is because the rest of the site is either wetlands, or is too steep to install panels. This site has a lot of streams and wetlands. It is not the typical topography for a solar power plant of this size. The environmental risks here are much greater.

The County has stated that site preparation must be done in stages, limited to 400 acres at a time. Soil stabilization and stormwater management measures must be in place before any additional land is disturbed. Concerned Citizens supports a staged approach. We recommend that rather than building the entire site at once, that the project be phased in over a period of five or more years, allowing the county board and staff adequate time to review each phase and address development concerns, and requiring sPower to address and mitigate them before further expanding the site. This step-wise approach is prudent given the unprecedented size of the proposed facility.

Strict controls are needed covering selection and application of chemicals used during construction (e.g. herbicides to clear vegetation) and operation (e.g. fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, cleaning agents).

Fertilizers will be used to grow grass under the solar panels to stabilize the soil. Fertilizers containing phosphorus can lead to stagnant algae blooms in lakes, ponds, wetlands, streams and rivers.

sPower has indicated that they will not use biosolids to condition soil. (Biosolids, if used, could pollute the groundwater and drinking water drawn from the rivers downstream.)

Click on the image above to read the full article and see the video.

Concerned Citizens therefore has recommended specific conditions be included in the Spotsylvania County Special Use Permit to alleviate these concerns, or at least mitigate any potential impact. Those recommended conditions can be found here:

Special Use Permit Conditions

"DO NO HARM"

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