DERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Ashly Miller and her husband bought their house on Newhouse Road in Derry Township three years ago to live in the country.
“And then we find out they’re trying to put solar panels up all around my property? It’s upsetting,” Miller told Channel 11’s Andrew Havranek.
A proposed solar farm on Newhouse Road would replace farmland — currently growing corn — right next to the Miller’s property and across the street.
They’re worried about what it would mean for their water, and the Loyalhanna Creek down the hill.
“Most of the neighborhood is connected to the same aquifer and if those go right there and anything happens to those panels, they will leach into our aquifer and damage our water,” Miller said.
Her neighbor, Hallie Newhouse-Ramer, started an online petition and has been going door-to-door informing the community about a hearing being held tomorrow night in Derry Township.
They put up a sign at the top of the street urging the community to attend.
Neighbors feel the township was not transparent with them, and only put the notice on poles at the end of the road near a private driveway.
“We are not against green energy. We want transparency, and we want to know how it’s going to affect where we live, the water we drink, how it’s going to affect our kids in 30 years, 20 years, what’s going to go on with our property,” Newhouse-Ramer said.
One of the people who signed the petition is Nathan Bundy, a Derry Borough councilman. While not a part of Derry township, he wanted to voice his concerns — especially when it comes to decommissioning the solar panels down the road.
He said the township should make sure the solar panel company is on the hook for all cleanup.
“I think that’s a good compromise to require decommissioning bonding,” Bundy said. “We’ve seen this story before with the timber industry, the coal industry, and the ceramic industry. When they leave, they tend to leave a mess behind for everybody else to clean up and to deal with.”
The meeting on the proposed solar farm starts at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
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