A little more than halfway through the comment period, the
public will have its opportunity Wednesday to address and add
comments in person to the draft environmental impact report
regarding Solargen’s Panoche Valley solar farm proposal.
A little more than halfway through the comment period, the public will have its opportunity Wednesday to address and add comments in person to the draft environmental impact report regarding Solargen’s Panoche Valley solar farm proposal.
The report, released June 28, describes some of the environmental impacts that the proposed 420-megawatt project would have on southern San Benito County. The report also lists ideas to help mitigate some of those issues, including four project alternatives that call for a reduction in size.
Some of the issues include biological impact on native animal populations, project asthetics and the possibility of reducing groundwater levels.
The meeting will take place at 6 p.m. in the Board of Supervisors Chambers at 481 Fourth Street, and the county’s project manager Michael Krausie is expecting a large crowd.
A previous meeting to discuss the scoping process attracted an audience of nearly 50 people, and Krausie expects more for the EIR meeting. At the scoping meeting in March, the county received comments from environmental groups throughout California.
“I expect there will probably be a lot more,” Krausie said. “The county hopes to get as many comments and information on the draft EIR as we can.”
Krausie said he hopes that Wednesday’s meeting will answer questions regarding the project. The planning department staff will describe the project to the attendees and will highlight some of the important features of the draft EIR.
Interim Director Cathy Woodbury, Assistant Director Byron Turner and Krausie will represent, and answer questions for, the San Benito County Planning Department.
Solargen plans to have a few representatives at the meeting but the company won’t participate. Instead, its representatives will listen and answer questions if needed, said Solargen Chief Executive Officer Michael Peterson.
“It’s not time of us to respond,” Peterson said. “It’s time for people to respond.”
In the meantime, Solargen already is busy trying to reduce some of the impacts the draft EIR lays out, Peterson said.
“Handling everything is important and especially everything that is a level 1 impact, we’ll absolutely address,” he said. “We just need to get through seeing what all the impacts are.”
Peterson said the company has been talking about mitigating issues since the beginning.
“We are being very proactive,” he said. “We need to look at all the issues, and that is what the comment period is for.”
The comment period ends August 16.
To view the EIR, go here.
List of key draft environmental impact areas:
1. Aesthetics impact
2. Loss of Agricultural land
3. Dust
4. Loss of biological resources
5. Cumulative impacts of solar projects in region
6. Effects of hazardous materials
7. Noise from travel
8. Degraded traffic flow
9. Potential for reducing groundwater levels
10. Variety of suggested alternatives
Issues to be resolved:
1. Does the EIR “adequately describes the environmental impacts?”
2. Choose among alternatives
3. Should mitigation measures be adopted or modified?
4. Do additional mitigation measures need to be applied?
