Petition to Stop Solar in Hatfield & Eureka

Orion Solar has come to our county and taken over Troy and Grandview with hundreds of acres of solar farm. They come in and create a lot of jobs up front and leave with 1 person being employed. This company is run by 3 men in California that do not care about our health. There are a few things to consider about these solar farms.

1. Chemicals in our ground water.
In order to keep all of the panels working at optimal rates, the company will have to keep the grass and weeds below the solar panels. This is something that is done with chemicals. They don't care about us and our animals, wildlife, and ponds. Everything will get contaminated and can kill your ecosystems. They will not compensate you.

2. Raise in temperature - Raising A/C bills
A solar farm creates a large bubble called a solar heat island. When there is a large amount of solar panels close together they will raise the temperature of the local area by 2-3 degrees sometimes. This affects everyone around the farms.

3. Property value can drop as much as 40% across the county
Properties that border the solar farms can drop in value by 40%. Other properties that are within the next mile can even still drop by 10% in property value.

4. At the end of the 30 year lease, we are responsible for cleanup.
Orion Solar did this with the farmer in Troy and will do this in Rockport. They worded the lease so that the property owner has to dispose of the panels. These panels contain toxins that have to be properly disposed of and it costs lots of money. They won't be able to easily tear down all of the panels, the fencing, and the stations.

5. Change in the natural landscape.
In the Troy project, Orion Solar came in and removed hills and changed the landscape to place their solar farm. When they changed the landscape a lot of neighbors had negative side effects from it. Tree lines removed, hills gone, and even more.

6. Components being used by Orion Solar panels can cause fires.
The solar panels being used in Troy and Grandview and that they want to use in Rockport have reports of having caught fire and burning down nearby houses!

7. These areas will be fenced off and not accessible
Any portion of the farm that is being leased will be fenced off and our wildlife won't be able to make it through the fields or hide in the corn/beans. This will majorly affect our ecosystem.

Please understand that these are just some of the affects of bringing in a solar farm. There are many other factors and feel free to reach out to me if you have any information that you want added.

http://chng.it/vfcmsmcM