WASTELAND TO SUNLAND IN VERMONT

Company suggests solar farm at landfill
Patrick McArdle, May 24, 2010 (Rutland Herald)

"Representatives of a Burlington company will…seek preliminary approval of a project to build a solar farm at the town's former dump site…

"Chad Farrell, of Encore Redevelopment, and consultant Dan Smith, with the Stowe-based Arno Group, will present a proposal to put solar panels on town-owned land in what was once a Superfund site…Superfund is a program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency which started about 30 years ago to clean up land that had been discovered to be toxic, usually through industrial dumping that left the land unusable."

From Brockton, Mass. (click to enlarge)

"…[ Encore Redevelopment ] founded almost three years ago, finds ways to redevelop land that may be otherwise unusable because of environmental restrictions. For the site in Bennington, for instance, there is a prohibition against piercing the cap over the land…

"Bennington Town Manager Stuart Hurd said Encore's proposal could restore some idle municipal property to active use…The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation and the EPA recommended the Bennington site to Encore…Encore's proposal is to place 750 solar panels for a net-metered capacity of 150 kilowatts on the site at the company's own cost. The company would pay for the equipment and its installation and would be responsible for obtaining permits…[T]he project would likely need approval at the municipal, state and federal level…"

From Brockton, Mass. (click to enlarge)

"The town would be asked to enter a 10-year contract to buy electricity generated by the solar panels but the electricity would be discounted by 10 percent…[T]he agreement would also be a way for the town to reduce its carbon footprint…The town would have a chance to buy the solar panel farm [at a discounted rate] after 10 years..The farm would be expected to last another 15 to 20 years.

"…Scott Murphy, Bennington's economic and community director, said Encore had a July 15 deadline to apply for permits for the project and would be required to install it by the end of the year…[and] must be met for Encore to take advantage of tax credits which will drop at the end of the year from 30 percent of the cost of the project to about 7 percent of the cost…Encore has not yet installed any of the solar farms it is proposing but the company is in active talks with a number of Vermont municipalities including Waitsfield, St. Albans, Winooski, St. Johnsbury and Windsor."