Public hearing Tuesday in Gloversville for project on Great Sacandaga Lake
Updated at 7:30 a.m. Oct. 31 linking to a report on Tuesday’s public hearing
By Gwendolyn Craig
Touting its climate benefits amid ongoing public concerns about visual impacts and tree cutting, the state Office of Renewable Energy Siting and Electric Transmission has deemed an application for the largest solar project ever proposed in the Adirondack Park complete. It is currently out for public comment.
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Called Foothills Solar and proposed by solar developer Boralex, the maximum 40-megawatt facility on about 200 acres of the Close brothers’ fifth-generation dairy farm will be adjacent to Great Sacandaga Lake in the town of Mayfield. The Fulton County project is more than double the size of the largest approved in the Adirondack Park so far.
A comment period on the project ends at 5 p.m. on Friday.
RELATED READING: Public hearing for large Great Sacandaga solar project draws few attendees
Records show the meeting notice for Tuesday’s hearing was advertised in legal ads in the Daily Gazette, the Leader Herald and The Recorder on Sept. 20, and was posted to the ORES website and to the Boralex website.
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How to participate
A public comment hearing will take place at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 29 at the Paul Nigra Center for Creative Arts, 2736 NY-30, Gloversville, NY 12078.
Written comments should be filed with the state Office of Renewable Energy Siting and Electric Transmission by 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 1.
Comments may be posted on the ORES Permit application portal.
They may also be emailed to [email protected] or mailed to the Office of Renewable Energy Siting and Electric Transmission, Empire State Plaza, P-1 South, J-Dock, Albany, NY 12242. Petitions for party or amicus status may also be made no later than 4 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 4. Learn more about how to file such requests here.
Climate role
The solar facility is the first in the 6-million-acre Adirondack Park to go through ORES permitting, which bypasses traditional state agency and local government review. It is intended to streamline the building process of large-scale renewable energy projects. Local governments and other state agencies still provide input, but ORES has the capacity to ignore their regulations if it finds them “unreasonably burdensome” to reach the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) targets.
The CLCPA aims for an 85% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2050.
ORES said once it is built, Foothills Solar “will produce enough zero-emissions energy to power approximately 10,859 households” in New York, and “will contribute meaningfully to New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.”
The draft permit
Jon Close, the farmer who is entering into a lease agreement with Boralex for this project, has said the facility will allow him to continue farming on his remaining land.
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Boralex began the application process in June 2021 and submitted its application to ORES in December 2023. ORES determined it complete on June 25 and published the draft permit to its website on Aug. 26, records show.
The proposal involves rows of photovoltaic panels, inverters, electric line connections, an on-site power collection substation, access roads and fence lines. The power generated at the edge of Great Sacandaga Lake will connect with an existing National Grid transmission line, according to the draft permit.
Because of its size, the project is under the jurisdiction of ORES and not the Adirondack Park Agency, which is in charge of private and public development in the park, or the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Projects greater than 25 megawatts are under ORES jurisdiction.
The draft permit for Foothills Solar shows ORES exempted Boralex from multiple town and village regulations for solar facilities, citing the state’s climate goals as taking precedent.
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Some of those exemptions include removing any limits on building height for the solar facility’s substation, removing certain vegetative buffer requirements and removing a town requirement to remove all infrastructure during decommissioning, specifically components that are four feet below grade.
Concerns
The APA was consulted during the application process and can only participate as an advisor. However, in its most recent letter dated June 3 to ORES, Environmental Program Specialist Ariel Lynch identified multiple concerns she still had with the project.
Lynch had requested ORES to provide alternatives to the original proposal to clear cut 99 acres of forest on the property. No such alternative was presented, Lynch wrote, but the latest application shows the clear cut area was reduced to 48 acres. She thought this was likely due to logging currently occurring on the property. The APA “staff’s position that clearing of forest for the siting of solar projects should be avoided,” Lynch wrote.
Other concerns Lynch outlined included:
- No alternative analysis was provided regarding development of areas with prime agricultural soils.
- The APA requested a “more fully developed” plan for co-locating agricultural practices at the site, such as sheep grazing.
- The project did not analyze glare from “school athletic fields, lake area (to include potential impacts from glare to boaters), and the re-routed snowmobile trail,” which the APA had suggested it do.
- The proposed seed mix for pollinator plantings at the solar facility “contains numerous non-native, naturalized species. Consideration should be given to substituting with a mix containing a higher proportion of native species,” Lynch wrote.
- There is no mowing schedule, and the application “does not appear to take nesting grassland birds into account, despite evidence of high priority species of greatest conservation need in New York breeding on the site (most notably bobolink),” according to Lynch.
- The agency considers an access road to the site to need a revised stormwater pollution prevention plan due to its impervious surface.
- There is a discrepancy in the application over the amount of feet of un-protected streams involved with the project.
- The APA’s statute and regulations were missing from the local laws and ordinances section of the permit application.
Zachary Hutchins, a spokesman for Boralex, said the company is “managing those points through the ORES permitting process. We have been in active and ongoing conversations with the APA throughout the project’s development and recognize the critical role they play in protecting the Adirondack Park.”
An ORES spokesperson did not immediately respond to the Explorer’s request for comment on Tuesday.
The draft permit, published after the APA’s letter, suggests tree and vegetation clearing should be “limited to the minimum necessary for facility construction and operation.” It also suggests that no stipulations are required to address grassland bird habitat.
The APA did not respond to the Explorer’s questions about whether its concerns from June 3 were addressed. The agency wrote, “At this time APA is pleased with the communication and responsiveness of ORES and the project applicant.”
Seventeen public comments have already been submitted on the project, most expressing concerns about tree-cutting, impacts to views and the removal of prime agricultural land from production.
Some commenters were critical of the project’s total energy capacity. While most solar projects are advertised by their maximum amount of energy capable of being produced, that assumes full sunshine 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In New York, the state estimates solar projects to generate power between 13% and 22% of that maximum. Boralex expects Foothills Solar to produce roughly 4 megawatts for every hour throughout the year.
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly indicated the Foothills Solar project would go toward the state’s 10-gigawatt goal for distributed solar. The project is not considered distributed solar, and therefore would not be counted. It would still be counted toward the state’s goal of 70% renewable energy consumption by 2030.
Top photo: A map of Foothills Solar, a proposed 40-megawatt solar facility, in the town of Mayfield. Map courtesy of Boralex application records
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“The power generated at the edge of Great Sacandaga Lake will connect with an existing National Grid transmission line, according to the draft permit. ”
This sounds pretty benign, but often impacts the environment the most. NEW high-tension power line installation will typically involve a significant amount of damage to intact environmental communities. Unless this project is very close to existing lines, the impact of the transmission lines may produce more disruption than the construction site alone. This is usually glossed over by solar/wind developers and politicians, but needs to be up-front in the taxpayer/resident dialog.
The bedrock, very shallow ground cover, is a very dense ancient limestone!
The early morning sun exposure is excellent and the location is absolutely perfect for a Solar Farm!
The Close family is very responsible and great stewards of their land!
This Solar Farm should be considered a perfect project!!!!
Good to see someone has a sense of humor. Thanks for your unbiased contribution. Surely you have no horse in the race. Remind us of what you do for a living again.
We have Protected Eagles all around the GSL esp Sand Island in close vicinity to his farm. . Also solar panels radiate the ground below. The land cannot be reused, The solar panels last about 10 years and then must be buried.. Solar panels cannot be recycled due to radiation. It is not really green energy if it can destroy the land. , is it ? It is black energy and oil may be safer. Also Native plants Must be planted , not non native that can destroy the environment which can negatively impact nature and wildlife. Thank you
Solar farms are heating up the planet and contributing to negative climate change. This would be a very negative thing for our environment and the Adirondacks. I’m sure there is an alternative area they can put this solar farm. Hard NO to this proposal!
Please explore data linking the increased magnetic draw to spawning tornadoes
I thought climate change matters. We’re destroying the earth. Solar energy was going to save the earth. As long as it’s not in my BACKYARD. Typical liberals speaking with a forked tongue.
It would be weird if liberals were rallying against this, but I see the hypocrisy in her comment.
These are facts.
Solar panels draw in large amounts of solar rays resulting in huge areas of land that are being heated.
Think I’m wrong?
Put your phone in the sunlight for an hour.
Feel how much heat is attracted and absorbed? It shuts off after just several hours.
Now let’s imagine 40 acres filled with large panels…
1. It heats the whole area many degrees warmer than it ever was.
2. Drying out naturally occurring plants and trees.
3. Drawing in solar rays to certain locations pin points these already dry areas making wildfires a HUGE concern.
4. This heat created only speeds up climate change, resulting in an even warmer climate.
For what?
So China can sell us these panels that will be obsolete in 10 years?
Find better ways to invest capital?
Nope.
If anyone can waste American’s money it’s the rich “educated” entitled government officials…
This is not a fact… Yet…
These people came in and legally stole rights to your land… For 30 years…
Sounds harmless……
Right…
Good luck with your solar farms.
Only the best,
Tytis A. Markwardt
Mr. Markwardt, thank you. This may be the best caricature of internet “science” and “logic” I’ve yet seen.
I feel like maybe you missed an opportunity however, to mention that the magnetic properties of solar panels are not only adept at attracting the sunlight and forcing its focus on a single point causing forest fires, but also causing tornadoes! That’s a pretty important point to have left out.
You’re welcome!
I love it. The conspiracists and shills are out in force. Burning oil is better for the environment, no doubt. Better for the eagles! What will we ever do with all of the waste! It’s best we do nothing, no doubt, except maybe build more “clean” coal plants and “clean” nuclear. Afterall, who is thinking of the children?
Solar waste is projected to be but a tiny fraction of all waste, as in miniscule, less than 1% — and that is worst case scenario.
https://www.nrel.gov/news/program/2023/photovoltaic-toxicity-and-waste-concerns-are-overblown-slowing-decarbonization.html
Black energy? Have you tried planting a garden on the former site of a coal mine? An oil well? A nuclear power plant? A uranium mine?
Please, get real folks, grow up and get a real job. Seriously.
I have a great idea!
Why don’t we consume less and waste less energy?
-Shut off lights not being used night and day.
-Unplug appliances not being used.
-Unscrew light bulbs.
-Use natural bees wax candles.
-Shut off lights during the day and put
mirrors in rooms you want more light.
-Walk more drive less.
– Eat local foods in season not being transported from across the country.
-Grow and harvest your own food!
Wait….
That means… less profit?
Whoa….
Nope can’t let that get out.
No way Corps will accept that idea.
I know the area, delivered cow feed to the Close Brothers years ago. I don’t believe in solar panels and think that the land is better used for agriculture and recreation. If the owners of the land need additional income government agencies should work on providing recreational purposes .
It’s not a coincidence that these projects are planned in Republican counties because of “not in my backyard Dems” and “we don’t want to anger our voters”. At the end of the day none of this saves the environment. It’s just a money grab.
Very clever thinking. This private landowner said to himself, here is my big chance to stick it to the Republicans, they’re always complaining about the lack of industry and jobs in the park well, this’ll show them.
I wonder what your thoughts are about the garnet mine expansion in North Creek? Surely you are agitating to shut it down cuz that sure isn’t saving the environment, obviously a “money grab” and is a finger in the eye of republicans everywhere, amiright?
Placing solar panels in place of forest and/or open space is not green. If you look at the big picture the forest exchanges carbon dioxide for oxygen. The creation of a solar panel uses way more energy than it will ever produce. I don’t just mean the actual manufacturing but the extended power used far beyond manufacturing, extending all the way to the employees of every company involved driving vehicles to their place of work. That forest will produce oxygen for centuries if allowed. Solar panels will last 10 years. The immediate future is nat gas and the extended future is may be small packaged nuke plants. And the far future maybe a process yet to be discovered. Solar panels belong on roof tops of buildings or above parking lots in urban areas.