Safety questions loom over proposed Worthington solar project

WORTHINGTON — Planning Board Chair Bart Niswonger said the town and Boston-based BlueWave Energy are knee-deep in a continuing dialogue of “asking and getting, asking and getting,” as the board reviews a special permit application and site plan review for a 28-acre solar array off Ridge Road.

Residents and the board members peppered BlueWave officials with questions during a second public hearing held at the Jan. 8 Planning Board meeting. BlueWave wants to develop a 3-megawatt array featuring 7,462 ground-mounted agrivoltaic panels in an open field at 190 Ridge Road, with the panels elevated to allow farming underneath. The development would roughly power 500 homes annually.

BlueWave officials had answers for some, but not all, of the questions.

Two questions in particular that both residents and Planning Board members want answered are: what kind of battery energy storage system will be used to store the electricity generated by the panels, and what kind of fire resources would be needed to counteract a battery fire?

BlueWave officials explained that they won’t select a battery system for the project ahead of time. With construction proposed for two years from now, they said technology is likely to change in this timeframe.

When asked how long they believe it would take to put out a battery fire, BlueWave projected “some 12 hours,” but added it is impossible to calculate accurately without knowing the specifics of the battery’s chemistry. Residents disagreed with the 12-hour calculation, thinking it undermined what could be a disaster in town.

Niswonger said following the meeting that, “we will keep pushing to get the details we need to evaluate their application from a health and safety perspective. We are expecting to have a technical reviewer on board soon which will greatly aid our ability to review the more technical aspects of this application.”

Among answered questions, BlueWave said they would use weed whackers to trim weeds surrounding the site, not herbicides.

Residents were also concerned about what would happen to the development if the landowners, Timothy and Catherine Rude-Sena, were to move or become unable to care for the land.

BlueWave officials said the lease is maintained over the life of the project, and a farmer can be contracted if the current owners are no longer able to tend to the land.

Niswonger proposed that all town boards and committees have the opportunity to do a site visit. BlueWave accepted the proposal.

During the public comment period, residents continued to voice their concerns about the risk of fire and environmental contamination from a battery leak.

Changes to project

BlueWave Engineer Olivia Crosby also laid out changes made to the project following requests from a previous public hearing in November. These changes include designing a berm to improve water runoff and landscape screening, along with adding a swale to capture rainwater to the south of the development.

Perhaps most notably, the system’s battery storage unit was moved southward on the plot, removing it from the Water Protection District. This district, which covers more than half the space where the proposed project would be developed, is why BlueWave needs a special permit to develop the array in the first place.

“So all battery and storage equipment will be outside of the Water Supply Protection District area entirely,” said Crosby.

Some panels were also removed from the southernmost areas of the proposed array to allow more space for a setback, and any fencing in wetlands has been eliminated from the plans.

“These are the major updates so far,” said Crosby.

This process of dialogue with BlueWave will end when the town has a sense of “clarity” about the plans, said Niswonger. The town and BlueWave renewed an agreement to streamline the special permit and site plan review into one process. Meanwhile, the town will not be expected to abide by any 60- or 90-day deadlines.

The next public hearing will take place in the R H Conwell Elementary School on Feb. 11.

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