Connecticut Siting Council denies solar farm for Torrington forest on West Hill
Sloan Brewster
TORRINGTON — The Connecticut Siting Council has denied Lodestar
Energy's application for a solar farm on 41 acres West Hill Road.
“The Siting Council determined that the scale of forest
clearing and the associated environmental impacts outweighed any potential
benefits of the project,” Mayor Molly E. Spino said in a statement. “We
appreciate the council’s careful consideration of these factors.”
The city has opposed the project since learning of
Lodestar’s plans last January to submit an application to develop a
3.0-megawatt ground-mounted solar photovoltaic electric generating facility.
Spino, in her announcement, noted the city also represented
the interests of Torrington residents in the opposition. Pointing out that
the project offered no direct benefit to local taxpayers, she said installing
the more than 7,500 solar panels called for would have required clearing 19
acres of prime forest and impacting 24 acres of farmland soil.
Of the forest, 10 acres are considered "core
forest" and the remainder is consider "edge forest" which
generally borders non-forested land.
Core forests provide habitat for wildlife unable to tolerate
significant disturbance. The loss of such forest cover diminishes water
purification and habitat values, according to the state's website.
Spino also noted that the city had “significant
environmental concerns,” about the project, including that the site is located
near drinking water reservoirs that also impacts an endangered bat habitat.
Lodestar Energy could not be immediately reached for
comment.
Torrington had hired attorney Bruce L. McDermott, of Harris,
Beach, Murtha, in New Haven, to help fight the project. Last May, McDermott
requested and was granted permission for the city to be named a party or
intervening municipality in the process. It was the only intervening
municipality.
Because the city was a party, it will be reimbursed by the
state treasurer for legal expenses using money Lodestar had earmarked for that,
said Attorney Tomasz Kalinowski, corporation counsel for the city.
“There will be no direct cost to taxpayers,” he said.
Former Mayor Elinor C. Carbone, who lead the battle
against the project and who has repeatedly said the city is overburdened with
solar farms, said she was pleased with the results.
“I’m excited,” Carbone said. “This is the fourth application
that was presented for property in Torrington. We felt after the third one,
which was on Lover’s Lane, that enough was enough.”
Last February, the Siting Council granted approval for
Lodestar to put in a 3-megawatt solar
farm on property next to Country Woods Condominiums on Lovers Lane.
The city also objected to that application but did not become a party in the
process.
A solar
farm is also going up at the landfill and there are two other solar
farms in the city, Carbone has said.
Clarice "Pinky" Johnson, who has spoken against
the project in hearings, said she is “very pleased” about the denial, calling
it a win for the town. Johnson said there are plenty of open areas
in Torrington more suited to solar than wooded land with natural springs
and a nearby watershed.
“Getting rid of 20 acres of forest to me was horrible when
there’s open spaces in town, “she said
Johnson was also concerned about electromotive force or EMFs
from the solar arrays.
“I’m thankful that they hired the lawyer because if they
didn’t it probably would’ve been pushed through,” Johnson said.
Tweed Airport Expansion Moves Ahead as Residents Question Flooding, Wetlands Impact
Amy Wu
As Tweed-New Haven Airport moves closer to a $250 million
expansion, officials used a public information session Wednesday to outline the
environmental review process as residents continue raising concerns about
flooding, wetlands and transparency.
Since launching in 2021, the expansion has been the subject
of controversy. Project administrators have said it would benefit the local
economy and attract an estimated 2,500 jobs by 2030. However, area residents —
especially in East Haven where the airport is located — have expressed concern
about quality of life impacts, including increased sound, air pollution and
traffic congestion from more flights.
Environmental advocates and groups like Save the Sound are
also concerned about the impact on the wetlands and wildlife, considering the
airport’s proximity to wetlands and coastal marsh areas.
The airport is in a coastal flood-prone area about 12 feet
above sea level near Long Island Sound. Parts of the airport are in Federal
Emergency Management Agency-designated flood zones.
Save the Sound has a pending lawsuit in federal court in
which the organization argued that the Federal Aviation Administration along
with the airport authority violated the National Environmental Policy Act and
did not adequately assess environmental impacts.
“We want them to do a full environmental impact statement
that would require them more meaningfully and honestly evaluating the impact
including how many passengers would be flying in and out of the airport, and
the impact of the wetlands on the taxiway they are going to build,” said Roger
Reynolds, senior legal director of Save the Sound. “They are claiming there is
no significant environmental impact, so they don’t need to do a full-on impact
report.”
Reynolds said a ruling from a federal appeals court could
come by summer.
The project involves
building a new 84,000-square-foot terminal and runway extension. Construction
is slated to start in 2026 with completion expected by 2028. As of summer 2025,
the Tweed New Haven Airport Authority and operator Avports — the two entities
managing the project — said the new terminal’s design is 60% complete. An application for a
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Inland & Wetland permit
has been submitted, although there are no specific timelines as to when the
permitting process evaluation will be complete.
The Wednesday public information session was led by Avports,
with presentations from Eliza Heins, an attorney with DEEP, and Kimberly Peace,
an environmental coordinator at Hoyle Tanner, the design engineer for the
project also leading permitting.
Heins outlined the permitting process, explaining how DEEP
evaluates applications and how the public can participate. A team of five
analysts assigned to the project is reviewing potential impacts on tidal and
inland wetlands, water quality and stormwater runoff before and after
construction, and wildlife including endangered and protected species.
“Technical review is the most intensive part of the process
for DEEP, and our analysts must determine whether the permit application
satisfies all statutory and regulatory requirements,” Heins said.
Andrew King, vice president of external affairs for Avports,
told CT Examiner the meeting was held as part of public outreach.
“We are offering these opportunities because the formal
process does not,” he said. “We truly care about the community’s understanding
of the impacts — this is literally a community airport in a residential
neighborhood.”
King said the meeting wasn’t formal because they received a
notice of determination per the DEEP
permitting process and are not in the public comment
period.
Wednesday’s meeting was the 14th public information meeting
held since the project launched in 2021. There will be four more meetings in
April in East Haven with dates to be announced.
However, longtime environmental advocate East Haven resident
Lorena Venegas said she didn’t think Avports officials have been
transparent.
“I thought [the meeting] was very misleading and there was
disinformation in those slides,” she said of the Wednesday presentation.
Venegas said she’s been attending the public meetings since
the start of the project, but not getting any answers.
“I live about a mile and a half away and the main thing
that’s going to affect my neighborhood is really the access roads,” she said.
“… All of the access roads are state roads, and they flood — Short Beach,
Hemingway — the entire area is surrounded by marsh. You’re bringing millions of
vehicles into an area surrounded by marsh and swamp, and they still can’t
explain what happens to all that water.”
Venegas also runs 10,000 Hawks, a Facebook group opposing
the airport expansion.
After the meeting, Venegas told Heins via email that it was
very difficult to follow what was happening with the project
application.
“Last night, Kimberly Peace mentioned several wetlands areas
in her presentation that the public are not aware of including taking up
parking lots and substituting 25 acres as mitigation. No details have been
given to the public,” Venegas wrote in her email, which was shared with
CTExaminer.
Venegas ended the note with: “There is a lack of
communication and transparency.”
In response, Heins thanked Venegas for the note and said
DEEP does not discuss the details of applications while they are under
technical review.