Cooks Mills residents guaranteed well safety
WELLAND — “I will put it in writing.”
That’s the guarantee Rob Miller, director of development for Sunedison Canada, gave a room of about 50 Cooks Mills residents Wednesday night that the construction of a proposed solar farm on Ridge Rd. will not contaminate the drinking water that comes from underground wells.
“If there evidence from testing that the water should be contaminated, then, yes, we would bring in bottled water and begin water treatment,” Miller said.
Miller was addressing concerns from resident Jack Trudel, who wondered if there was a contingency plan in place should well water become contaminated.
Miller said Sunedison Canada is required to monitor water quality before, during and after construction of the solar farm.
He said there is no reason to believe the quality of water will be affected by construction.
Not a seat was empty in the Community Room at Welland Civic Square Wednesday night as Sunedison held its third public meeting on the proposed Welland Ridge Solar Energy Project.
Sunedison wants to build a 10- megawatt solar farm on 38 hectares of farmland off Ridge Rd. The proposed solar farm would generate enough electricity to power between 1,200 and 2,000 homes a year.
The purpose of the third meeting was to address concerns brought up by stakeholders from a previous meeting held in December. Issues raised at the previous meeting included effects on aquifers and noise levels.
Miller and Bruce Bennett, manager of the environmental services group for Hatch Ltd., gave a presentation addressing the concerns.
Regarding noise, Miller said during the day the solar panels will produce about 40 decibels of sound — the equivalent of a quiet room. There will be no noise emitted at night because the panels will be off, he said.
To minimize the visual impact of the property, berms, plantings and wooden planks could be installed on the site, he said.
If there evidence from testing that the water should be contaminated, then, yes, we would bring in bottled water and begin water treatment.”
The floor was later turned over to residents for a question-andanswer period, which resulted in a heated exchange of words.
Amidst the off- topic banter and personal attacks on the proponents, logical questions did arise.
Trevor Bentley, a renewable energy technology student at Niagara College, asked whether solar farms could be built on soil designated for agricultural use.
Bennett said the site has clay soil that is quite high and doesn’t see why posts cannot be installed three metres deep to support the panels.
If approved construction could begin before the end of 2012. Miller is hoping the farm will be up and running by fall 2013.