MAILBAG: Farmland should not be used for solar projects - Lockport Union-Sun & Journal

MAILBAG: Farmland should not be used for solar projects | Opinion | lockportjournal.com

Farmland should not be used for solar projects

The New York State Office of Renewable Energy Siting’s recently approved application for the 125 megawatt Somerset Solar project is notably deficient. No consideration is given to installation of solar panels on the numerous acres of closed landfill on the north side of state Route 18, on the site of the now shuttered, coal-fired Somerset Generation Station. New York State policy encourages the use of closed landfills and brownfields for the purpose of solar power generation. There is no reason Somerset Solar should be exempt from this policy. A number of closed landfills in New York state are being used for solar power generation; Somerset Solar should not be an exception.

Further, all solar development should take place north of Route 18 and remain within the footprint of the now shuttered power station. This will reduce the use of farmland for the project and preserve the existing buffer zone around the site. The Somerset Comprehensive Plan dating back to 1972 has as a goal “Preservation of the Rural Character of our Community.” Restricting Somerset Solar in this manner is consistent with this goal.

Two hundred forty seven acres of prime farmland will be taken out of agricultural use for the Somerset Solar Project. It stretches the imagine to believe these acres will ever be returned to agricultural production, with the hundreds of support pilings, the five miles of crushed stone access roads and cable trenches proposed for the project. In practical terms, farmland tainted by solar power generation will never be returned to agricultural use. Claims to the contrary are unfounded and ignore the facts.

The 2022 Agricultural Census of Niagara County indicates the average yearly value of all agricultural products sold in the county to be $1,291 per acre. The proposed Somerset project will remove from active agriculture 247 acres. This results in a loss of $318,891 per year in Somerset agricultural production. Over the projected life of 35 years the estimated total loss in agricultural production in Somerset will exceed $11 million.

Farmland should not be used for solar projects. Secured landfills, roof tops, abandoned shopping center parking lots and brownfields are more environmentally acceptable sites. ORES has been made aware of these matters and a response is overdue.

JAMES C. HOFFMAN, Somerset

Attacks on immigration are attacks on small farms

Congresswoman Claudia Tenney’s attacks on immigration have to be seen as an attack on small farms and our farming communities.

Cornell University reports that over 50% of farmworkers are undocumented immigrants. The lack of farmworkers is a major reason for farm bankruptcies. When the previous administration attacked immigration, farm bankruptcies drastically increased — a 20% increase in 2019. That was not an unintentional result of Mr. Trump’s immigration policy. Indeed, Mark Kirkorian, executive director for the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that advised the Trump administration, told the New York Times (March 18, 2019) that their goal was to force small farms to consolidate.

A study by the Union of Concerned Scientists (published April 14, 2021) reports that farm consolidation means “jobs disappear, population shrinks, physical and social infrastructure weakens.” Small family farms support our local schools and churches and provide economic vitality to our communities.

Ms. Tenney’s attacks on immigration are designed to attack our local communities.

WILLIAM FINE, Brockport