Waste Management Landfill and Potential Large Solar Array

I was at a Planning Board meeting tonight with my colleague Anne Ferguson (At-Large). Though we were there for another issue, we were both interested in hearing a 'Pre-Hearing Conference' presentation by a company working with Waste Management to propose the development of a large solar array for the capped landfill off of South Hunt Road.

Under the Patrick administration, the Commonwealth has promoted a number of means for promoting large and small scale solar energy production. The project discussed tonight would come under an initiative to develop solar arrays on capped and closed landfills, such as this one. You can read more about this HERE.

Here is a photo of the proposed solar array site:

Photo of Map from 10/27/14 Planning Board Meeting

(I apologize for the quality of the image; it is a phone photo of a large handout.)(Does this location look familiar?)

The road across the top is South Hunt Road. The development in the lower right is part of Bartlett's Reach, off of Pleasant Valley Road. And the development on the right side of the image is Merrimack Landing. The capped landfill is the large tan blob in the middle of the image and the gray/blue area inside that is the proposed footprint of the solar array, taking up a substantial part of the landfill.

The capped landfill itself has a bit of elevation to it and the array would take advantage of the elevation to capture solar energy. You can see the same location HERE (Google Earth) and HERE (Open Street Map), for good perspective.

This is all exciting news. This would enable Waste Management to put this inactive landfill property into a productive use, it would add to the Commonwealth's overall production of renewable energy (and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels for power generation), and it would add taxable value to the property (boosting Amesbury's non-residential tax base). There are, as you would imagine with a closed waste site, a number of hoops to jump through, both state and local. But MA DEP has permitted over 40 solar array projects on landfills to date, so has developed capacity to review and approve such projects. If this comes to fruition, it will be a strong complement to Amesbury's recent achievements as a Green Community.

Energy Task Force Established

At the October Municipal Council meeting, we established an Energy Task Force. It is charged with reporting back to the Mayor and the Council with specific recommendations regarding municipal energy use. This is a time limited Task Force, with a commission ending at the end of December, 2009.

Here's the heart of the measure:

3. The Task Force shall report to the Municipal Council and the Mayor regarding the following:

a) Strategies to reduce energy costs of city-owned facilities and vehicles through energy efficiency and renewable energy measures, including strategies to conserve electricity, vehicle fuel, natural gas and oil and identify cost-saving measures, such as performance management contracts or use of bio-diesel fuels;

b) Develop city-wide programs and measures to promote and facilitate smart energy strategies for Amesbury citizens, including energy saving programs and renewable energy generation projects on both public and private real property; and

c) To accomplish the above, identify state and federal grants and resources such as the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, UMass Amherst’s Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the Executive Office of Environmental and Energy Affairs, the Department of Energy Resources and the Department of Environmental Protection to accomplish these goals and assist the city in applying for and implementing such grants and resources.

The Mayor is accepting applications now for this Task Force. You can find an application HERE. Please consider joining this and other Boards and Committees.