Solar farms face DEQ fines for erosion problems

Energix US will pay a $158,000 fine for violating erosion and sediment control regulations at seven plants.

The agreement reached with DEQ was the fourth time state regulators cited Energix for environmental violations in building solar farms in southwestern, southern and central Virginia.

Energix, a subsidiary of the Arlington-based Israeli renewable energy company, was fined $92,022 for violations at two locations in 2022 and $97,651 at seven locations in 2023, according to DEQ data.

Earlier this month, an Energix official signed the latest consent agreement, which was published this week on the DEQ website. The agency will accept public comments until June 21 before taking final action.

While using solar energy for power avoids greenhouse gas emissions produced by burning fossil fuels, the violations show that the development of large arrays of solar panels in rural areas is not without environmental risks.

An Energix official did not respond to emailed questions as of 5 p.m. Tuesday. After DEQ was cited last year, it said many of the issues had been fixed and it was trying to learn from past mistakes.

“At the end of the day, we’re an environmental company, so things like this are really important to us,” Dominika Sink, the company’s senior director of project acquisition and development, said at the time.

According to agency spokeswoman Irina Calos, DEQ’s latest enforcement actions detail additional instances of noncompliance and require corrective action.

Last year, a state inspection of a solar farm being built near the Henry County community of Axton found “a large portion of the site to be in a wormed and unstabilized condition,” the permit states.

Improper erosion control measures allowed sediment from stormwater channels to be released “directly into the stream without adequate perimeter controls,” the order states.

The 33-page document details numerous other violations that occurred at solar farms under construction in the town of Wytheville and in Buckingham and Sussex counties. Previous DEQ inspections found similar problems at plants in Appomattox and King William and Prince George counties and at a second plant in Henry County.

Some solar farms – including in Wytheville and Buckingham – have come online since the inspection, according to the company’s website. Details about the others were not available.

As renewable energy expands in Virginia, in part because of a state law that requires the state’s largest utilities to provide customers with completely carbon-free electricity by midcentury, proposed solar and wind facilities are meeting resistance in some communities.

Concerned residents say solar farms are destroying scenic views in rural areas and taking up land that could be used for agriculture. Others fear that large areas of solar panels will lower nearby property values ​​and cause the type of environmental damage found by DEQ.

In Franklin County, such concerns led Energix to withdraw two solar farm proposals, the first in the Westlake area and the second near Wirtz.

Last June, the company said it planned to resubmit plans for the Wirtz facility, which will be located on agricultural land along Brooks Mill and Burnt Chimney roads, in a modified special use permit application.

But district officials said this week they had not heard back from the company.

Staff writer Jason Dunovant contributed to this report.