Environmental Stewardship & Concerns
Every action has consequences
Utility-scale solar projects located on inappropriate sites, like the proposed Hesperus Solar, can have catastrophic consequences for the environment and community. This includes loss of wildlife habitat resulting in permanently reduced plant and animal populations; extreme wildfire dangers in heavily wooded and residential areas; detrimental impacts to soil, water quality and quantity and air resources; and much more.
A range of adverse impacts are associated with the construction, operation, and decommissioning of industrial-sized solar power projects. Some of the concerns of local residents are outlined below.
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The applicant is a California-based company and a subsidiary of an international investment management firm based in Australia. Primergy has hired a Texas
based public relations and government affairs firm to influence the public and local policy makers to approve this proposal.
Stop Hesperus Solar is a group of concerned residents who believe that this proposal is inappropriate and would be harmful in a multitude of ways.
With a land mass 28% larger than the surface area of Lake Nighthorse. Primergy’s proposed development would be one of the largest in Colorado. The 1,900-acre site would include 500,000 solar panels, a 155-megawatt lithium ion battery storage system, dozens of currency inverters, a new electrical substation and nearly a mile of overhead towers and transmission lines.
The 1,900 acres Primergy proposes to develop has been designated as High Priority Habitat by the CPW critical for elk, deer, and other threatened wildlife. It is a major migratory corridor and winter range for one of the state’s most vulnerable elk herds. In addition to this high priority habitat for elk, the site’s acreage and vegetation supports a diverse array of animals who would be displaced or put at-risk. Primergy admits this habitat would be destroyed by the project.
Primergy proposes to mitigate the project’s disastrous impact on wildlife by constructing the 500,000 solar panels in two islands, each surrounded by an 8- to 10-foot game fence. Between these solar panel islands, a 1,000-foot-wide corridor would run for one mile, opening directly onto a major county road to Durango. Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) has stated that there is no scientific evidence indicating that elk or other wildlife would use the corridor as a safe passage. Governor Polis has warned of the dangers to both elk and humans when elk and deer cross Colorado highways.
The proposed solar installation would extend for about three miles along CR 141. a roadway that elk and other wildlife already must navigate. Primergy estimates that traffic on CR 141 would increase dramatically during the construction period with an estimated 2.532 additional semi/tractor trailer trips and 22.800 additional passenger vehicle trips. Risks to wildlife would escalate with this traffic surge.
Researchers also blame the “lake-effect” of huge solar installations for the deaths of migratory birds. With the installation of 500.000 solar panels and other components of the proposed development would require destruction of hundreds of acres of trees. native vegetation and the entire soil microbiome. Herbicides and/or soil scraping and compaction are common ways that developers clear huge swaths of land for industrial-scale solar facilities.
The proposed industrial-scale development poses threats to the watershed, aquifers, and the local water delivery system. The loss of irrigation water that replenishes local aquifers, along with runoff and sedimentation from thousands of acre-feet of water used for the construction and maintenance of the site over its lifespan, is likely to have a cumulative impact on local water quality and quantity. In addition, the proposed second development is the site of a 200,000-gallon water storage tank and a water pipeline that supplies water to many nearby residents.
The industrial development is proposed to be located in the county’s appropriately named “Dry Side.” The Colorado State Forest Service has designated the proposed site of the industrial facility as having moderate to high wildfire danger, with a high burn probability. Battery Energy Storage Systems using lithium-ion batteries, as proposed for this project, have caused massive fires at existing facilities across the nation. These fires cannot be extinguished with water and must be allowed to burn out. Frequent high winds, dry soil conditions, and dense vegetation increase the wildfire risk—further compounded by the project’s use and storage of fuels, lubricants, chemicals, and waste on-site. The area’s volunteer fire department would be responsible for protecting the safety and health of residents and wildlife.
The proposed development presents a range of additional, potentially harmful effects on—and costs to—the community. These include: increased pressure on the already strained local housing market due to hundreds of temporary construction workers; the impact of increased traffic and heavy equipment on local roads; greater demands on county law enforcement, emergency medical services, and volunteer firefighters; visual impacts for miles around the facility; the creation of an industrial zone that disrupts an established rural lifestyle; decreased property values and increased insurance rates; losses to public revenues; unknown costs to future generations for decommissioning the proposed 45-year facility; uncertain effectiveness in hazard removal; and the inability to restore the current ecosystem to support natural vegetation and wildlife.
Despite the enormous risks to the natural environment and local residents. the proposed installation carries no promise of local benefit. No local jobs are guaranteed-during construction. operation. or decommissioning. None of the electricity generated is guaranteed to go to the county. Those certain to benefit are the landowners who would sell or lease existing agricultural and range land for conversion to industrial use. Primergy. and its investors.
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I am very concerned about this project, thank you for everything you are doing to stop this desecration of land and community. I have signed up and I am ready to help in any way possible.
This is a really big deal! I can’t believe that a California company wants to mow over our beautiful county for electricity that would be going somewhere else. Our elk and environment are more important than profit. I will be at the meeting.
My partner and I are very concerned for what this will do to our water quality on our property that’s located just south of the proposed area. We have a small ranch that we have worked to accomplish.
I am an avid supporter of responsible green energy who has rooftop solar panels and a hybrid car. And I strongly oppose this industrial development. A California corporation proposes to destroy a valuable ecosystem for profit. This is not responsible solar energy generation. It’s wrongly sited, wrongly sized and of no benefit to our community or local environment.
Please read the attached article. I sent it to LaPlata Electric. If this happens on a large scale, it’s happening on a small scale projects, just ignored.
I joined your news letter and will join in your fight.
https://ideas.ted.com/solar-farm-sahara-desert-climate-impact-effects/
Do you all remember when New York city was buying up another mountain state, namely, West Virginia, and using it for a multi acre landfill site?? Rhetorical question coming up. Did it benefit the local population. Don’t give away paradise!!!