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Solar farm runoff pollutes property, couple awarded $135 million. ( Georgia )
CFACT, ^ | |June 6th, 2023 | Bonner Cohen, Ph. D.

Posted on 06/06/2023 8:51:01 AM PDT by george76

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1 posted on 06/06/2023 8:51:01 AM PDT by george76
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To: george76

I was told that when land is cleared for solar farms, the operator must basically “nuke” the soil. Can’t have tall weeds, trees, etc...growing up among the panels, as constant need to mow and weed hundreds of acres is a big labor cost


2 posted on 06/06/2023 8:55:14 AM PDT by PGR88
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To: george76

This is a GREAT award.

Every time I turn around, there’s another ecological catastrophe caused by “green” energy. I never thought of the possibility of solar panels collecting huge amounts of rain water and preventing the water from percolating into the soil (where forests and grasslands used to be pre-solar). The solar runoff pollution runoff ruined the adjoining property.

Another “unintended consequence” of solar.

Yet the greeniacs keep quiet about millions of raptors killed, whales killed, and land ruined by their fetish.


3 posted on 06/06/2023 8:55:46 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (I don’t like to think before I say something...I want to be just as surprised as everyone else.)
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To: george76

Hope this award will be the first of many around the country!!!! The “little” people matter!!!!!


4 posted on 06/06/2023 8:58:49 AM PDT by Thank You Rush
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To: ProtectOurFreedom
When this article is talking about "runoff" and "sediment", is it talking about the soil getting harmful chemicals from the solar panels (i.e. silicon, monocrystalline, polycrystalline)? If it's talking about that kind of pollution, that's a real concern.

But if it's just talking about the solar array and construction changing the direction rain water runs, then this argument applies to any large building project and it's not germane to solar.

5 posted on 06/06/2023 9:03:48 AM PDT by Tell It Right (1st Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
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To: george76

I’m sure that this bit of news will get zero every time on the government networks


6 posted on 06/06/2023 9:05:16 AM PDT by ChildOfThe60s ( If you can remember the 60s.....you weren't really there..)
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To: george76
This is a recurring theme in green energy. Green energy projects have to be done by cutting corners because the economics are just not there. This is especially the case with solar because of the massive amounts of land that must plowed over to set up solar cells. Solar farms are worse than parking lots when it comes to environmental destruction. We need a new, updated protest song -”They Paved Paradise and Set Up A Solar Farm”
7 posted on 06/06/2023 9:07:14 AM PDT by rdcbn1
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To: PGR88

Maybe goats could eat the weeds and saplings down. That can work where land is unmowable. We use that in our city, where hillside weeds present a seasonal fire hazard.


8 posted on 06/06/2023 9:11:35 AM PDT by married21 (As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.)
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To: Tell It Right

True, but all construction projects and parking lots have to comply with runoff and soil percolation requirements. I doubt these are concerns for any “green” energy plant.

They wiped out almost TWO SQUARE MILES of forest and grassland with total disregard for rainwater concentration and runoff management. They ignored it and let the concentrated runoff flow to neighboring properties and inundate them with mud and silt, ruining their land and ponds. That is gross incompetence. It sounds like you are perfectly happy with that.

Try doing that when you build any other type of commercial project. Tough regulatory standards must be met for any project except “green” energy projects.

In a similar vein, I’m angry about the lack of land remediation bond requirements for windmills. If you want to open a surface mine of any type, you must post up-front bonds to restore the land after mining is completed. Windmills and solar plants will be abandoned, littering our once-beautiful landscape with tens of millions of failing windmill towers, each held up by hundreds of tons of concrete buried in the earth. No surety bonds are posted to make sure those despicable towers will be torn down or remediated. I presume you are fine with that looming environmental catastrophe, too.

Just like everything else in modern America, there are two systems of justice and regulatory law — one for the favored classes and one for everybody else.


9 posted on 06/06/2023 9:14:12 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (I don’t like to think before I say something...I want to be just as surprised as everyone else.)
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To: george76

We need to see a couple thousand suck lawsuits and awards to show the green agenda is anything but green.


10 posted on 06/06/2023 9:14:58 AM PDT by CarmichaelPatriot (Recovering Kalifornian... Loving Alabama!)
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To: married21

Goats will climb onto the solar panels.


11 posted on 06/06/2023 9:18:00 AM PDT by blackdog ((Z28.310) My dog Sam eats purple flowers.)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Yes, it is a great award assuming they EVER get paid.
More likely, the solar company will just go out of business. As will all the other companies involved.


12 posted on 06/06/2023 9:18:59 AM PDT by woodbutcher1963
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Real Damages vs Imaginary according to greeniacs.
Thing is when presented with facts and data, it makes no difference to them. Gotta be a mental illness


13 posted on 06/06/2023 9:23:32 AM PDT by griswold3 (Truth, Beauty and Goodness )
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To: george76

Also the “climate scientists” who only know about how bad CO2 is cannot predict what will happen when you cover an environment in solar panels. Everything affects everything around it, and changes to one area could drastically alter another.


14 posted on 06/06/2023 9:24:21 AM PDT by Telepathic Intruder
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To: ProtectOurFreedom
Thanks for clarifying. Then yes, this is a good judgement because solar construction should have to abide by the same rules as all other construction.

Two square miles? How much power was being produced? That sounds like power to supply the grid, which is a horrible use for solar. The grid should be dependable power.

Our solar on our home produces 80% of the power we need in our all electric home, including charging our EV. And it's in Alabama (similar climate to Georgia, where the article is about). Solar shouldn't be forced onto anybody. But if anybody is interested (free market), it's do-able in our climate without using up tons of land. All of mine is on the roof.

But you won't get the kind of efficiency I get if it's done with a large solar farm for the grid. For one, the grid's needs are different from a home's needs and the grid's demand varies a lot more than a home's demand. Simply put: it's hard to engineer to meet a constantly shifting target. Then there's the bureaucratic layer with grid power always mucking things up like bureaucrats do.

15 posted on 06/06/2023 9:25:52 AM PDT by Tell It Right (1st Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
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To: blackdog

Yeah, they do climb. Hmmmm.


16 posted on 06/06/2023 9:27:35 AM PDT by married21 (As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.)
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To: george76

Solar farms...on our precious woodlands and farms....BIG mistake.


17 posted on 06/06/2023 9:27:48 AM PDT by Sacajaweau ( )
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To: PGR88

The last I heard, our county had declared a moratorium on solar farms in our county. One was allowed to be built and it was an eyesore and provided little to no energy. The commissioners were ticked off that it did not perform as promised and said “no more”.


18 posted on 06/06/2023 9:30:07 AM PDT by CFW (old and retired)
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To: Tell It Right

Even large building projects havew a maximum footprint to allow mother nature to operate.


19 posted on 06/06/2023 9:30:43 AM PDT by Sacajaweau ( )
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Oh MY GOD. They CLEARCUT TWO SQUARE MILES.

If this was a timber harvesting company they would be immediately subject to fines for run off, etc. Especially when it comes to runoff into wetlands/streams any bodies of water.
However, because it is a solar farm it was OKEY DOKEY, with the government.

On Federal lands in the western US you are not allowed to log within 50-100’ of a stream. Especially if that stream is the spawning grounds of salmon.


20 posted on 06/06/2023 9:31:08 AM PDT by woodbutcher1963
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