MAIL: Farmland should not be used for solar projects

Agricultural land should not be used for solar energy projects

The New York State Renewable Energy Siting Authority’s recently approved application for the 125-megawatt Somerset Solar project is particularly flawed. No consideration is given to installing solar panels on numerous acres of a closed landfill on the north side of State Route 18, the site of the now closed Somerset coal-fired power plant. New York State policy encourages the use of closed landfills and brownfields to generate solar energy. There is no reason why Somerset Solar should be exempt from this policy. Many closed landfills in New York State are used to generate solar energy; Somerset Solar should be no exception.

Furthermore, all solar development should occur north of Route 18 and remain within the currently closed plant. This will reduce the use of agricultural land for the project and preserve the existing buffer zone around the facility. The Somerset Comprehensive Plan of 1972 had the aim of ‘Preserving the rural character of our community’. Reducing Somerset Solar in this way is consistent with this goal.

Two hundred and forty-seven acres of prime agricultural land will be withdrawn from agricultural use for the Somerset Solar Project. It’s hard to believe these acres will ever be returned to agricultural production, along with the hundreds of support piles, five miles of crushed stone access roads and cable trenches proposed for the project. In practice, agricultural land contaminated by solar energy will never be returned to agricultural use. Claims to the contrary are baseless and ignore the facts.

The 2022 Niagara County Census of Agriculture indicates that the average annual value of all agricultural products sold in the county is $1,291 per acre. A proposed project in Somerset will remove 247 acres from active farming. This results in a loss of $318,891 per year in agricultural production in Somerset. Over a projected 35-year period, the estimated total loss of agricultural production in Somerset will exceed $11 million.

Agricultural land should not be used for solar energy projects. Secured landfills, rooftops, abandoned shopping mall parking lots and brownfield sites are more environmentally friendly places. ORES has been informed about these matters and the response is delayed.

JAMES C. HOFFMAN, Somerset

Attacks on immigration are attacks on small farms

Congresswoman Claudia Tenney’s attacks on immigration should be seen as an attack on small farms and our farming communities.

Cornell University reports that more than 50% of agricultural workers are undocumented immigrants. The main cause of farm bankruptcies is the lack of labor. When the previous administration attacked immigration, farm bankruptcies increased dramatically, with a 20% increase in 2019. This was not an unintended consequence of Trump’s immigration policies. Indeed, Mark Kirkorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank advising the Trump administration, told the New York Times (March 18, 2019) that their goal was to force small farms to consolidate.

A Union of Concerned Scientific study (published April 14, 2021) found that farm consolidation means “jobs are disappearing, populations are shrinking, and physical and social infrastructure is weakening.” Small family farms support our local schools and churches and provide the economic vitality of our communities.

Ms Tenney’s attacks on immigration are aimed at attacking our local communities.

WILLIAM All right, Brockport