Neighbors of the proposed Amherst solar project are concerned the project will damage the cap on the closed landfill.
This capped landfill is the site of a proposed solar project that could generate enough electricity to power all Amherst town buildings and street lights. AMHERST – Amherst officials are confident they will be able to proceed with a solar generation project on a former landfill site, despite concerns residents have raised.
Resident David Keenan reminded officials that hazardous waste was routinely buried at the town’s former landfill on Belchertown Road. The landfill has been closed since 1988 and is considered a brownfield. Because of its previous use, it could not be used for development.
Neighbors are also concerned the project could damage the landfill cap and create an environmental hazard by causing contaminants to enter the soil and water.
Town Manager John P. Musante said that state Department of Environmental Protection is in the midst of an investigation of what was buried there.
Department of Public Works Superintendent Guilford B. Mooring said the town knows hazardous material is buried there. He said that in the 1970s, people routinely threw away such hazardous materials as oil-based paint, nail polish remover and insect spray.
Musante said the project has to go through a strict environmental permitting process. “We are very confident that we will have a successful project. Landfills are the most highly regulated (sites),” he said.
“We have a very strong team (working on the project.) We have environmental, legal ... thinkers all working together.”
The town is working with Boston-based BlueWave Capital LLC to build the solar generating system. The project could produce 4.75 megawatts of electricity, enough to provide energy to all town buildings and schools, street lights and more. Depending on the cost of energy over time, the project could save the town about $25 million during the next 25 to 30 years.
“We are at the beginning of the process,” Musante said.
Musante, John P. DeVillars, managing partner of BlueWave, and Mooring met with residents Wednesday night to answer questions about the project.
But that meeting, attended by about 100 people, became contentious and concerns were raised about a re-grading project at the same landfill that the DEP will allow for the town to use 4,000 cubic yards of soil contaminated with agricultural arsenic generated from the roundabout construction project near Atkins Country Market and used during farming.
The town has not started that project but it was supposed to have been finished last year. Mooring said they haven’t decide whether they will use that soil or just street sweepings and catch basin cleanings as well.
But concerns were raised about the solar project itself.
Diana Spurgin, whose home looks out onto the landfill, said that people have concerns “about the project on multiple counts - environmental, financial, aesthetic, health.” The concerns come from worries that the cap would be comprised.
Some were also concerned about what the landfill would look like with such a large solar array.
She said she could deal with the appearance. “I can’t deal with my backyard being turned into Love Canal,” she said, referring to the Niagara Falls neighborhood that was found to be contaminated by toxic chemicals in the 1970s.
She said she is not opposed to solar and would not oppose a smaller solar project away from the cap. Others would like to see solar arrays on town-owned buildings.
Mooring said the project “can’t go into the top six inches of (of the cap) There’s not supposed to be a way of disturbing the cap,” he said. Mooring said there will be many meetings, including a follow-up with neighbors about the project. The date has not yet been set.