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Closed 10-acre landfill eyed for community solar operation
By Terry Duffy
Editor-in-Chief
Lewiston Town Board members covered a number of issues at their regular meeting on Monday. Included was a public hearing on a proposed solar farm at a closed landfill on the Modern Disposal property.
Representatives of Citrene Power LLC of Greenwich, Connecticut, visited in person and online to discuss a special-use permit and site plan application to build a ground-mounted, utility-grade solar energy system. The facility is planned for a closed 10-acre landfill located behind Modern’s headquarters at 4746 Model City Road.
“We have been working with the Washuta family and Modern Disposal for a long time,” said Cela Sinay-Bernie, principal and managing partner of Citrene Power.
She said Citrene has worked through the process with the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals, and planning boards in Lewiston and Niagara County. All three have conveyed support thus far and recommended their visit before the Town Board.
“This project is about 2 ½ megawatts AC,” Sinay-Bernie said. “It’s going to be a community solar project. … I believe the town has some experience with community solar. It is a good way of making use of a completely useless piece of property. It’s in an industrial zone.”
The solar panels would be mounted on ballasts, intended to prevent any disturbances to the landfill itself.
“My understanding of the ballasts is basically some fabric will be put down on the soil. Then a structure engineer would come in and design what that would look like,” said Matt, a Citrene engineer, in response to a question posed by Councilwoman Sarah Waechter. “So, you would have a certain section of stone and then a precast concrete ballast that these things sit on top of.”
The Citrene rep said design plans would allow for the units to be placed on top without impacting the materials and soils inside or for any shifting to occur.
Sinay-Bernie said the company has been working on this issue with the state Department of Environmental Conservation, as it looks into a permit.
“We’re actually doing structural analysis in terms of loads that can be put on the landfill and on top of the soil and the cap underneath,” Sinay-Bernie said. “So, to satisfy, essentially, DEC’s needs, and for our needs, because nobody wants the liability of … damaging anything. …
“So, the long and short of it is we’re going to calculate all of our ballast racking as well as the panels. All of the weight is based on settlement calculations, so that there’s no settlement caused by us.”
Responding to a second question from Waechter on how Citrene would confront potential settling issues from the weight of the ballasts, Sinay-Bernie said they would be “manufactured accordingly” and adjusted as needed to suit the project. “We’ll rearrange the ballast, maybe we’ll put some soil supplementation, etc. That’s all being calculated, because we don’t want any of the settlement ourselves.”
Sinay-Bernie said the solar farm’s construction would be similar to a Montante solar farm project now underway in portions of the closed BFI landfill in the Town of Niagara.
“The vehicles (we’ll use) are very special,” Sinay-Bernie said. “They get on the landfill in order to put the ballast (on) a sequential basis. They watch for the weight loads, essentially. It’s not like a big truck that’s coming and dumping things. This is like very carefully choreographed construction process with smaller vehicles.”
On board questions concerning logistical items, including design and property access with Washuta family trusts in lease discussions, Sinay-Bernie said all are in progress.
“Our lease makes room for it, and we’re also putting easement agreements as we’re actually finalizing our design,” she said.
Supervisor Steve Broderick said, “This is going to be a much better option, as far as visual” (elements) for this property.
However, he announced the board wouldn’t take any action on the proposal that night.
Broderick noted discussions continue toward a host community agreement between Modern, the town, and Citrene interests for the property: “That’s for the attorney’s to work out.”
Henry Zomerfeld, a senior associate at Hodgson Ross LLP, representing Citrene, said, “The project will also afford those who wish to subscribe a benefit credit if you wanted to do the community solar, and that is handled by a third party. But that would also benefit, and it’s also consistent with the state’s renewable energy and clean goals.”
A copy of the Modern application is available for public review in Building Inspector Tim Masters’ office at Town Hall. For more information, visit www.townoflewiston.us or call Masters at 716-754-8213, ext. 227.