In a crowded supervisors chambers Wednesday night, a large
majority of residents and visitors spoke against the proposed
Solargen Energy solar project in Panoche Valley in a public comment
meeting for its draft environmental impact report.
In a crowded supervisors chambers Wednesday night, a large majority of residents and visitors spoke against the proposed Solargen Energy solar project in Panoche Valley in a public comment meeting for its draft environmental impact report.
In front of the San Benito County Planning Commission, speakers cited the loss of animal habitats and the valley’s natural beauty for reasons why the project should be halted. Some speakers asked that the project be moved to an alternative site at Westlands between King and Fresno counties – one of the options presented in the EIR document.
Out of the 32 speakers, two showed their support of the Solargen project, and the others showed their displeasure.
“When you wake up and see the valley – my God – you think you’ve died and gone to heaven,” said Fresno resident Brandon Hill. “When it’s gone, you’ll never get it back.”
Hill wasn’t the only person who shared the same belief. Others described the land as special and one of the last untouched areas in California.
“Panoche Valley is one of the few places I’ve seen where it looks like it did before California was developed,” said Cynthia Denay from Redwood City.
The meeting started with a short and abbreviated presentation of the project by project manager Michael Krausie and Susan Lee with Aspen Environmental Group. Aspen was the consulting firm on the draft EIR. The presentation outlined some of the basic issues and possible mitigation practices with the project.
Breaking down the environmental impacts to classes, Lee named eight “Class I” impacts, 41 Class II impacts, 35 Class III impacts and two Class IV impacts. Class I is considered the most significant and difficult to address completely.
Most of the presentation and the public speakers focused on the Class I impacts, which include the loss of three key species and high construction noise.
Despite the solar farm being placed in San Benito County, most of the speakers were from out of town and involved in environmental groups such as Defenders of Wildlife and Audubon California.
The environmentalist groups talked mostly about the vast resources of wildlife in the area and what danger the solar panels could bring. Many of the speakers were “birders” who said they went to Panoche Valley for years to look at birds and plants. The kit fox and the area’s large bird population were the focus of the groups.
Only a small number of San Benito County residents spoke, including one who was for the project.
Paicines landowner Charles McCullough spoke for the project saying the land where the project is proposed isn’t important farmland and it’s useless.
“It is not prime land,” he said. “It’s gravel – it’s nothing but gravel. If it wasn’t, people would be farming there.”
See the full story in the Free Lance on Tuesday.
