100 signatures reached
To: Gov. Baker, LTG. Karyn Polito, Att. Gen. Maura Healey, EOEEA Kathleen Theoharides
INDUSTRIAL SOLAR = NOT CLEAN ENERGY
.jpg)
This is an urgent and unprecedented matter that needs your full attention at this very moment. A Boston Globe article published at the end of December 2021 highlights that New England is heating up faster than anywhere else on the planet. Industrial solar facilities are adding heat into our atmosphere and disrupting the climate. Studies in many deserts have proven that large industrial solar arrays heat up the air around them. I will cite those articles shortly. I have reached out to professors from Boston University, Yale, Salem State, Harvard, Maryland University, and Lancaster to request immediate testing on industrial solar facilities in New England, because no studies have been released documenting what industrial solar companies are doing to our climate here, in our backyards.
I live in Conway, Ma, with my husband and two children, and we as well as our neighbors have been directly affected by one of these large industrial solar arrays installed by the company NeXamp. My neighbors and I urge you to take away subsidy benefits for solar companies such as NeXamp that clear-cut forests while touting they are promoting “clean energy.” What they are doing is the exact opposite of clean energy.
We have been exposed to a thing called "dirty electricity" from their solar array, and this is extremely harmful to human health, mentally and physically! Their solar array has been shut down by Eversource until they "figure out" the problem! The high-frequency electrical noise is awful, and it comes out of our light-bulbs, outlets, and many other electrical devises.
I live in Conway, Ma, with my husband and two children, and we as well as our neighbors have been directly affected by one of these large industrial solar arrays installed by the company NeXamp. My neighbors and I urge you to take away subsidy benefits for solar companies such as NeXamp that clear-cut forests while touting they are promoting “clean energy.” What they are doing is the exact opposite of clean energy.
We have been exposed to a thing called "dirty electricity" from their solar array, and this is extremely harmful to human health, mentally and physically! Their solar array has been shut down by Eversource until they "figure out" the problem! The high-frequency electrical noise is awful, and it comes out of our light-bulbs, outlets, and many other electrical devises.
Why is this important?
We need people to understand what Nexamp has done to us and our small community! Other large industrial solar companies are also doing this to other communities:
LAWSUIT THREAT. Nexamp threatened to take the town to court because we were concerned about native wildlife and requested a larger buffer between the clear-cutting of the forest and wetland. Nexamp wanted to clear-cut 10 feet away from a wetland.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION AND EROSION. Nexamp promised no noise or environmental disruption, but they lied.
We endured the stressful deforestation of 30 acres in our backyards.
A diesel generator ran 24/7 for 8 months for “climate control” of batteries on site, which caused noise and air pollution.
Lots of litter blew onto our land and into wetland streams. We documented the litter, picked it up, and notified the DEP.
Heavy, loud freight trucks used Conway’s small town roads and exceeded bridge weight limits to make large deliveries constantly at early hours during construction, stressing road surfaces and disrupting our rural neighborhood’s quality of life.
Erosion took place in numerous areas around the site, some going into neighboring wetlands (still not remediated), abutters’ properties, and a public road..
Nexamp allowed rock dust from drilling and dirt dust from fill brought on site created storms of dust that blew around our homes during the hottest days from failure to have water trucks on site. This caused air pollution affecting our families and native wildlife.
VIOLATION OF ABUTTERS’ BOUNDARIES. Nexamp went over the property lines of abutting neighbors with silt fencing, using inadequate data to accurately make site plans realistic for visibility from abutting neighbors due to tree cover and topography of land
PANEL VISIBILITY. Nexamp promised the array would not be visible because it is situated on a high ledge, but we can see the panels from our home windows and from the public road. This eyesore has taken away beauty from our small rural town and disgusted many residents.
POWER SURGES AND OUTAGES. When the array went “live” the neighborhood experienced random power surges and outages due to Nexamp’s faulty equipment.. This affected many people working from home and the performance of appliances and electronic systems.
HARMFUL EXPOSURE TO “DIRTY ELECTRICITY.” After the array went live, harmful high-frequency dirty electricity (confirmed by Eversource) was broadcast into our homes for 7 months, affecting our children’s mental health, as well as the adults. Because of this urgent problem, Eversource shut down Nexamp’s solar array on 1/14/22. Subsequently most of the children’s aggressive, angry behaviors have changed; their demeanor is back to normal being happier and sleeping better. (Teachers and doctors are documenting this.) Also, my neighbor and I have developed tinnitus from exposure, all due to Nexamp’s faulty equipment.
NO CLIMATE STUDIES. There have been NO studies done in New England on how these arrays are affecting the climate. One panel can get to 149 degrees Fahrenheit on a summer day! If there are 18,000 panels, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that these arrays are giant ovens heating up New England’s landscape. We need to stop allowing industrial solar to prey on small rural communities with inadequate bylaws, put people’s health in jeopardy, and wipe out native wildlife, many of which are in steep decline and becoming endangered. Temperature monitors need to be in place in and around every array built, and the public needs access to these numbers. We have every right to know how hot these industrial solar parks can become and how they affect the climate around them, and have resources for people to report dirty electricity!
Please see these links for more information:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/12/30/science/new-england-is-warming-faster-than-rest-planet-new-study-finds/
https://phys.org/news/2016-11-solar-island-effect-large-scale-power.html
https://www.techtimes.com/articles/257268/20210221/sahara-desert-solar-panels-are-contributing-to-global-warming-scientists-find-out.htm
https://www.dirtyelectricity.org/adhd
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18556048/
https://www.bostonsolar.us/solar-blog-resource-center/blog/how-do-temperature-and-shade-affect-solar-panel-efficiency/#:~:text=Solar%20panels%20are%20generally%20tested,%C2%B0F%20during%20the%20summer.
LAWSUIT THREAT. Nexamp threatened to take the town to court because we were concerned about native wildlife and requested a larger buffer between the clear-cutting of the forest and wetland. Nexamp wanted to clear-cut 10 feet away from a wetland.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION AND EROSION. Nexamp promised no noise or environmental disruption, but they lied.
We endured the stressful deforestation of 30 acres in our backyards.
A diesel generator ran 24/7 for 8 months for “climate control” of batteries on site, which caused noise and air pollution.
Lots of litter blew onto our land and into wetland streams. We documented the litter, picked it up, and notified the DEP.
Heavy, loud freight trucks used Conway’s small town roads and exceeded bridge weight limits to make large deliveries constantly at early hours during construction, stressing road surfaces and disrupting our rural neighborhood’s quality of life.
Erosion took place in numerous areas around the site, some going into neighboring wetlands (still not remediated), abutters’ properties, and a public road..
Nexamp allowed rock dust from drilling and dirt dust from fill brought on site created storms of dust that blew around our homes during the hottest days from failure to have water trucks on site. This caused air pollution affecting our families and native wildlife.
VIOLATION OF ABUTTERS’ BOUNDARIES. Nexamp went over the property lines of abutting neighbors with silt fencing, using inadequate data to accurately make site plans realistic for visibility from abutting neighbors due to tree cover and topography of land
PANEL VISIBILITY. Nexamp promised the array would not be visible because it is situated on a high ledge, but we can see the panels from our home windows and from the public road. This eyesore has taken away beauty from our small rural town and disgusted many residents.
POWER SURGES AND OUTAGES. When the array went “live” the neighborhood experienced random power surges and outages due to Nexamp’s faulty equipment.. This affected many people working from home and the performance of appliances and electronic systems.
HARMFUL EXPOSURE TO “DIRTY ELECTRICITY.” After the array went live, harmful high-frequency dirty electricity (confirmed by Eversource) was broadcast into our homes for 7 months, affecting our children’s mental health, as well as the adults. Because of this urgent problem, Eversource shut down Nexamp’s solar array on 1/14/22. Subsequently most of the children’s aggressive, angry behaviors have changed; their demeanor is back to normal being happier and sleeping better. (Teachers and doctors are documenting this.) Also, my neighbor and I have developed tinnitus from exposure, all due to Nexamp’s faulty equipment.
NO CLIMATE STUDIES. There have been NO studies done in New England on how these arrays are affecting the climate. One panel can get to 149 degrees Fahrenheit on a summer day! If there are 18,000 panels, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that these arrays are giant ovens heating up New England’s landscape. We need to stop allowing industrial solar to prey on small rural communities with inadequate bylaws, put people’s health in jeopardy, and wipe out native wildlife, many of which are in steep decline and becoming endangered. Temperature monitors need to be in place in and around every array built, and the public needs access to these numbers. We have every right to know how hot these industrial solar parks can become and how they affect the climate around them, and have resources for people to report dirty electricity!
Please see these links for more information:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/12/30/science/new-england-is-warming-faster-than-rest-planet-new-study-finds/
https://phys.org/news/2016-11-solar-island-effect-large-scale-power.html
https://www.techtimes.com/articles/257268/20210221/sahara-desert-solar-panels-are-contributing-to-global-warming-scientists-find-out.htm
https://www.dirtyelectricity.org/adhd
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18556048/
https://www.bostonsolar.us/solar-blog-resource-center/blog/how-do-temperature-and-shade-affect-solar-panel-efficiency/#:~:text=Solar%20panels%20are%20generally%20tested,%C2%B0F%20during%20the%20summer.
How it will be delivered
I will deliver all of the signatures to our state's government offices, to hopefully get some momentum with all of the other groups that are fighting industrial solar development.