Rochester Road: 44 acres, thousands of arsenic treated poles for 6,291 solar panels, lithium ion batteries in cranberry bog; earth removal nearby
Tremont Street: 57 acres, thousands of arsenic treated poles for 12,393 solar panels & lithium ion batteries in cranberry bog
Video October, 2021
September 6, 2022: Carver resident responds to the Carver Conservation Commission’s motion to dismiss her action as an abutter asking that the Conservation Commission enforce wetlands rules and address the harms caused by cancer-causing arsenic treated wooden poles on nearby cranberry bogs
July 2022: Toxic poles contaminated with Copper Chromated Arsenate are being pulled from the Rochester Road site in Carver. Does this toxin remain in the ground or water after they are removed?
April 2022: Lawsuit update: Town files incomplete record omits records of site visits where Conservation Commission approved arsenic poles
On January 14, 2022, a homeowner abutting PineGate’s dual use solar project using arsenic treated timber poles sued the Carver Conservation Commission and PineGate Renewables. The lawsuit demands transparency and accountability from the Carver Conservation Commission. The public should not have to sue to get a straight answer and information about this crisis situation. PineGate admits arsenic is leaching into the soil. It will migrate to the groundwater. Instead of following the law, the Conservation Commission is fighting the lawsuit. It was required submit the entire record, all the documents, to the court for its review. Instead it omitted key documents.
Get the records and PineGate’s “studies” on the toxic poles here.
The January 14, 2022 lawsuit alleges the Carver Conservation Commission violated the Wetlands Protection Act TWICE:
1st in spring 2021 when it gave PineGate permission to replace the steel poles with arsenic timber poles, and
2d in fall 2021 it allowed PineGate to replace the arsenic poles with concrete.
These were two substantial changes to the project. They required a new permit application each time. They required a public hearing and a chance for public input. There should have been full and complete disclosure of PineGate’s studies of the impacts of the arsenic poles on soil, groundwater and cranberries. Instead, the Conservation Commission hid this information.
About 3,500 arsenic-treated wood poles have been driven into the Sole Source Aquifer and wetland cranberry bogs in Carver and Rochester to mount solar panels. PineGate has the poles at two locations: Rochester Road and Tremont Street. The lawsuit concerns only the Rochester Road site.
Dual use solar is called an “experiment” by Iain Ward, cranberry industry consultant and PineGate. PineGate obtained Carver planning board and conservation commission approval for steel poles in 2019. No state permits were required although the Department of Energy Resources issued a “statement of qualifications” for the project. oles.
In Fall, 2021, public outcry against the arsenic poles forced the Conservation Commission to act. Grassroots activists exposed the threats to public health, water and cranberry crops from PineGate’s copper-chromated arsenic poles PineGate. With a wink and a nod and another closed door deal, the Carver Conservation Commission issued an order allowing PineGate to change the plans a second time – this time proposing to replace all 3,400 arsenic poles with concrete poles. The Conservation Commission violated the Wetlands Protection Act and Town Bylaw a second time.
The deal to replace the arsenic poles was a big win for the Pull the Poles grassroots campaign — but, the Town and PineGate refused to provide sampling result information or any details about how the replacement operation will occur, wetland impacts from the concrete poles and the results of PineGate’s water and soil sampling for arsenic. The law requires a full permit application for the concrete poles and a public hearing.
The state’s SMART solar program gives additional subsidies for ground mounted solar on farm land. Some would say using arsenic poles for a “green” renewable energy project is not so “SMART”. Many say dual use “agrovoltaics” especially when combined with lithium ion batteries is a bad deal for our food systems and our farmland.
Events
July 31, 2019: Carver Conservation Commission issues Wetlands Order of Conditions.
Sept. 24, 2019: Carver Planning Board approval of site plan and special permt.
Dec. 22, 2020: Beals & Thomas construction plans submitted to the Planning Board show solar mounted on steel posts. Page 16 of the PDF.
On December 23, 2020 PineGate emailed the “Carver Permitting Department/Building Commissioner” to report on “minor updates” to the project. This included a “transition from I-Beams helical piles to timber piles.” The Public Records don’t show any response from the Planning Board, Building Commissioner or Conservation Commission in response to the email. On page 59 of the PDF. The Beals+Thomas construction plans do not say this.
February 23, 2021 Building Inspector issues Building Permit.
February 24, 2021, a letter to the Town says PineGate has taken over the project, calling it Solar Carver 1 LLC and Solar Carver 3 LLC. PDF page 51.
Spring 2021: Conservation Commission members Germain, Moore with Beals and Thomas and Monroe, Conservation Agent, tour the site, CCA poles are on site. They approve replacing steel poles with CCA timber poles
Summer, Fall 2021: Public outcry about CCA poles being installed along Route 58 and next to homes.
November 2021: Conservation Commission allows PineGate to replace CCA poles with concrete poles.
January 2022: Abutter to Rochester Road site sues Conservation Commission and PineGate for violations of the Wetlands Protection Act.
March/April 2022: Conservation Commission sends letter to DOER saying speed up the review process.
April 2022: Town of Carver Conservation Commission files “administrative record” that will form the basis for the evidence in the lawsuit. The record is incomplete. See a copy here.