Planning Board to hold info session on done deal Fearing Hill solar project

The controversial Fearing Hill solar farm project appears to be on the track to construction. The Planning Board will hold a public information session about the project at its Sept. 14 meeting.

Although advertised as a public hearing, the meeting will not include time for public comment, according to Planning Board member Sam Corbitt. “We can’t change anything at this point,” he said.

The developer behind the project, Wareham MA 3, LLC., sued the town over the project earlier this year. After arbitration and a court hearing, the developer and the town settled, according to Corbitt and Town Planning Director Joshua Faherty. 

The town received a set of concessions to ease some of residents’ worries about the project. These include fewer solar panels and no direct street access to the farm. Corbitt said the town actually received more concessions than it went in with.

Residents have fiercely criticized the planned 20-acre solar farm for years. They have cited concerns about tree removal, chemical runoff from the solar panels, increased amount of stormwater runoff in the surrounding area and effects on endangered turtle species and archaeological resources in the area.

Wareham MA 3, LLC., first proposed the solar farm, which would be located at 90 and 101 Fearing Hill Road, in 2021. 

Residents immediately pushed back. The ground around the farm is made of glacial till sediment, which does not hold water well. Residents feared that removing trees, which hold water, from 20 acres of land would lead to more water flowing downhill and flooding and damaging homes.

Kathy Pappalardo, who lives near the project site, said removing trees defeated the purpose of green energy. “Solar is wonderful if you put it in the right place. Destroying the forest in the name of green energy is not green energy, other than the almighty dollar,” she said at a 2021 Planning Board meeting.

Along with flooding, residents worried that runoff during storms would introduce dangerous chemicals coated on the solar panels into the Weweantic River and wells. 

Joseph Shanahan, who works for the solar panel manufacturer Con Edison, said that the company would cover damage to properties through its insurance policy.

Neal Price, a hydrogeologist the town hired to study the project, said in a 2022 report that the project would have a minimal effect on stormwater runoff and groundwater pollution. Price said that an updated plan with fewer solar panels would cause less runoff.

The Conservation Commission voted against the plan in November 2022. However, the Planning Board continued hearings for the project into March 2023.

Over a year would pass until the project resumed hearings in June 2024. 

The Planning Board said it has to act on this project according to the law, although it values residents’ opinions. “It can’t be a matter of, ‘It’s the right thing to do.’ That’s not how we’re able to proceed. We have to proceed based on the law,” said former Planning Board Chair Michael King.