As a controversial solar project moves forward, Barren County is considering restrictions on future development.
Some members of the community are fighting a planned 100-megawatt solar energy array by private developer Geenex Solar. The company plans to invest $130 million to develop the site which spans the communities of Bon Ayr, Park City, Railton, and Merry Oaks in Barren County. It’s expected to surround local homes and farms right up to their property lines.
Barren County Fiscal Court gave initial approval Tuesday to an ordinance banning future solar projects within 1,000 feet of non-participating landowners whose property lines are close to solar farms.
Tiffany Thompson raises horses and cattle on a 160-acre farm adjacent to the proposed Wood Duck Solar Project. While she supports the ordinance that restricts future projects, Thompson said it won't stop the current development from decreasing her property value.
“It does nothing to help us. It’s too little, too late. There’s been studies done that they (solar farms) put heavy metals into the soil, they put glass into the soil. It’s going to ruin farmland for decades, if you can ever farm it again," Thompson told WKU Public Radio. "There’s not good research proving this doesn’t leak into our groundwater, that this isn’t going to affect my soil and my livestock.”
The ordinance must receive two readings to pass. A date hasn’t been set for a second vote on the measure.
Barren County Judge-Executive Jamie Bewley Byrd said she thinks the ordinance will make it harder for private companies to develop solar projects.
“Honestly, I feel like this ordinance will stop it," said Byrd. "People can still do it, but 1,000 feet is a lot. You have to have a lot of land to be able to do it.”
In the meantime, local property owners, as well as Mammoth Cave National Park continue to
push back against the Geenex project, which is seeking final approval from the Kentucky Public Service Commission.
In a letter to the utility regulator, the national park raises environmental concerns, particularly the federally endangered Kentucky Cave Shrimp, which live in cave streams fed by surface water from parts of the solar project.
"The NPS is taking this opportunity to raise awareness that a lack of communication from Geenex Solar has not satisfied concerns that this project may lead to irreversible harm to the endangered cave shrimp basin," wrote Mammoth Cave National Park Superitendent Barclay Trimble.
The letter seeks clarification on whether electricity would be stored on-site in batteries, what types of batteries would be used, and what measures would be taken to prevent the leaking of chemicals from the batteries.
Mammoth Cave is the largest cave system on earth, receiving some 600,000 visitors per year, according to the federal government.
Geenex Solar didn't respond to an interview request, but a video on its website says the proposed Barren County project is expected to deliver enough electricity to power around 17,000 homes annually.
Opponents of the 2,300-acre solar energy array plan to seek a hearing before the PSC. Pending state approval, the site could be operational in 2026, according to project's timeline.
