Impact on Our Community

As proposed, Hecate’s 360-acre project is wholly out of scale in our small, rural community and would transform an agricultural landscape into an industrial-sized commercial solar facility. Farms, wetlands and forests would be replaced with up to 200,000 solar panels, along with inverters, battery storage units, fencing, security lighting, access roads, and transmission lines. While Sensible Solar for Rural New York supports renewable energy, homeowners, farmers, small businesses, environmental organizations and community leaders stand united against the massive scale and location of this project. In October, the Copake Town Board unanimously passed a resolution strongly opposing the project.

1. LOSS OF PRIME FARMLAND

The project aims to remove hundreds of acres of prime farmland from agricultural production.

Farms in the project area currently produce a rich assortment of crops and the land is used for cattle grazing. Hecate’s proposal is directly at odds with the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets’ Farmland Protection Program – an initiative aimed at protecting valuable, at-risk farmland from development pressures to ensure that New York’s farmland continues to be used for agriculture purposes. In 2014, the Town of Copake adopted its own Farmland Protection Plan which sets out to maintain the economic viability of Copake’s agricultural industry and farmland. Farming is not only beneficial to our local and state economy, but supporting our farm sector is one of the best ways to conserve our wildlife habitats, landscapes and rural quality of life.

2. IMPACT ON VALUABLE NATURAL RESORCES

A utility installation of this size has an immediate and devastating effect on priceless natural resources, including wetlands, waterways, and forests.

Industrial-scale solar facilities pose significant environmental risks. Productive topsoil is destroyed, and runoff and erosion of contaminated soil can occur. Storms can damage solar panels, which contain highly toxic metals known to be carcinogens. Additionally, any necessary clean-up of toxic waste product is difficult and costly, and there is no certified regional means of solar panel toxic waste treatment, recycling, or decommissioning.

According to Scenic Hudson, an environmental organization dedicated to preserving the scenic and ecological treasures of the Hudson Valley, the proposed facility “has the potential to significantly impact natural, agricultural and visual resources, among others… The Facility has the potential to impact surface water resources, i.e., streams including floodplains, and wetlands.” Concerns have also been raised about impacts to forested land, which covers over 45% of the site.

The Columbia Land Conservancy has raised similar concerns, stating that “a project at the scale of the Hecate proposal has the potential for numerous significant adverse impacts on ecological, natural and scenic resources.”

3. DISPLACEMENT OF WILDLIFE AND BIRDS

The proposed solar site is currently a natural habitat for a rich variety of wildlife and birds, including endangered and threatened species.

The 360-acre solar facility would be adjacent to Hillsdale’s Rheinstrom Hill Audubon Center and Sanctuary, and as solar installations kill tens of thousands of birds every year, the project would place our region’s birdlife – including bald eagles, peregrine falcons and Northern harrier hawks -- in imminent danger. Additionally, the proposed installation would result in habitat degradation and harm to local wildlife, including beavers, black bears, bobcats, eastern coyotes, gray and red foxes, racoons, striped skunks, and white-tailed deer. Of particular concern is the impact on the Indiana bat, bog turtle and short-eared owl, which are endangered and threatened species.

4. DEGRADATION OF RURAL VIEWSHEDS – IMPACT ON TOURISM

Views of farms, fields, and rolling hills will be replaced with solar panels, battery storage units, fencing, security lighting, access roads, and transmission lines.

The proposed industrial-scale solar installation will dramatically change the landscape of our tranquil, beautiful countryside and viewsheds for decades. Visitors from across the United States and around the world visit the Hudson Valley to experience its natural beauty, rolling fields, state forests and parks, clean lakes, green mountains and fall foliage. Trading in our region’s number one asset – our natural resources and viewsheds – for industrial sites will erase the very reason visitors flock to the Hudson Valley.

5. DECREASE IN PROPERTY VALUES

Hundreds of acres of glass, glare, and industrial equipment reduce surrounding property values.

Using a formula developed by researchers at the University of Texas, homeowners in Craryville, Copake and Hillsdale who live in close proximity to the 360-acre solar installation stand to see their property values decrease by up to 10%, cumulatively up to $15 million. The Taconic Hills Consolidated School's property value could see a decrease of up to $3 million. Additionally, should the installation be realized, homes and farms directly abutting or in view of the utility-scale project will likely become impossible to sell.

Sensible Solar for Rural New York
P.O. Box 305
Craryville, NY 12521
General inquiries:
info@sensiblesolarny .org
Media inquiries:
media@sensiblesolarny.org