On May 12, 2008, AGC filed a lawsuit to temporarily stop construction of a one megawatt solar energy power generation facility near Clear Lake, California, which is being developed less than 200 feet from homes in the area, and which was approved without any meaningful environmental analysis of the project’s impacts on residents.
The facility is being developed by Northern California Power Agency (“NCPA”), which touts the project as one of the largest solar power generating facilities on the West Coast.[1] However, the potential public health and safety effects of developing such a project so close to homes and residences was never sufficiently analyzed. Indeed, AGC believes that no project in the United States – and perhaps in the entire world – has ever been developed so close to homes and areas where people live. Despite these concerns, the project was approved without any Environmental Impact Report or other sufficient environmental review as required by the California Environmental Quality Act.[2]
Homeowners and residents near the proposed project site support the development of solar power facilities in the area. However, they are concerned about the impact that a project of such magnitude will have on them and others in the area. The project itself is proposed to occupy nine acres of a vast 489 acre parcel which provides ample alternative locations for development. Thus, residents requested that the project be moved away from homes in order to minimize the impact on the public.
Unfortunately, the residents’ requests were rejected by Lake County, which granted NCPA’s final permits for the project on April 15, 2008. Further investigation revealed that NCPA had actually originated the project in 2007, and obtained initial approval for the project site from the Lake County Sanitation District on November 20, 2007 – months before any notice to residents and the public had been given about the possible environmental effects of the project.
To protect their safety and well-being in the fact of these actions of NCPA, Lake County, and the Lake County Sanitation District, residents near the project have formed an association, Residents for Responsible Solar Power, whose goal is to promote the development of solar power facilities such as that proposed by NCPA, but in a manner that provides adequate protections for the public and does not disregard the environmental impacts that such projects have.
AGC attorney Matt Gorman represents Residents for Responsible Solar Power. “Everyone involved in this case favors the development of solar power facilities in Lake County,” Mr. Gorman says. “The problem in this case is that NCPA and other staff involved in the project never made environmental protection a priority, and they mislead the Lake County Board of Supervisors into approving this project. All my client wants is to have NCPA move the project site away from their homes, and to have a proper environmental review completed so that the public and the Board of Supervisors can know the full range of impacts it will cause.
According to Mr. Gorman, the Supervisors themselves were concerned about the impact of the project on homes and residences. “I believe the Board of Supervisors wanted to protect residents, but they felt they had to approve NCPA’s project because of improper pressure and bad legal advice. My clients hope to bring these issues to light so that the Board of Supervisors can review all the proper information before deciding the project. We believe the Supervisors are on our side, and will safeguard the residents once the proper procedures are required.”
A copy of the lawsuit against Lake County, NCPA, and other parties involved can be viewed by clicking here: Residents for Responsible Solar Power, et al. v. County of Lake, et al.
For further information on the case, please contact Matt Gorman at mgorman@agclawfirm.com, or (707) 542-4833.
[1] An NCPA press release on the project can be found at:
http://www.ncpa.com/images/stories/120407_ncpa_solarrelease_final_2_2.pdf
[2] “CEQA”; Gov’t Code § 21000, et seq.