Solar farm projects get pushback in Madrid

MADRID, New York (WWNY) — If a fire happened at a solar farm in St. Lawrence County, chairman of the Madrid Fire District Carl Huttel says, “There’s nothing that could be done. There’s no department within St. Lawrence County that has sufficient equipment and facilities to fight such a fire, so you would have to basically just stand back and watch it burn.”

That’s why he’s concerned about Delaware River Solar’s proposed 2-megawatt solar panel array on State Route 345 near Madrid’s population center.

“We are not against solar except that we want to have it done responsibly and safely,” said Huttel.

County Legislator Larry Denesha is opposed to the proposed Madrid solar site and wants to hear from the state when it comes to safety.

“First of all, I think we need to have more direction from the state,” he said.

At the already established Nexamp community solar site, there is a proposal for a battery storage facility unit to be built, which is fewer than 2 miles away from Madrid-Waddington Central School.

“There’s a school nearby. We worry about if there are fumes or any kind of chemical spills that could cause a problem,” said Madrid Town Supervisor Anthony Cooper.

The town of Madrid has enacted a moratorium that ends in October, preventing construction on a battery storage facility from happening, giving the town time to further assess the impact of the facility.

Huttel gave county lawmakers a packet at a recent meeting.

“We have detailed our concerns and also made some recommendations and some suggestions with regard to what we would like to see with safety protocols,” he said.

Nexamp tells 7 News it’ll work with local first responders and the community for all its projects and looks forward to continuing to work with the town of Madrid.

We didn’t hear back from Delaware River Solar.

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