Through its news reporting and analysis, the nonprofit Adirondack Explorer furthers the wise stewardship, public enjoyment for all, community vitality, and lasting protection of the Adirondack park.
Subscribe to our print magazine
Support our journalism
Sign up for our emails
Through its news reporting and analysis, the nonprofit Adirondack Explorer furthers the wise stewardship, public enjoyment for all, community vitality, and lasting protection of the Adirondack park.
Subscribe to our print magazine
Support our journalism
Sign up for our emails
Adirondack Explorer
The only independent, nonprofit news organization solely dedicated to reporting on the Adirondack Park.
A former landfill in the southeastern Adirondacks, within a neighborhood plagued by toxins in its drinking water, is slated to become a solar facility.
Keep up with the stories that matter. Google recently introduced a feature allowing you to customize your search results to prioritize content from sources you trust. ADD THE EXPLORER AS A PREFERRED SOURCE
The Adirondack Park Agency (APA) on Thursday approved a permit for a 5-megawatt solar project on 18 acres of the 50-acre closed and capped landfill off Ridge and Jenkinsville roads in the town of Queensbury.
Thursday’s approved permit marks the APA’s 14th solar permit since the first one it issued in 2020.
APA Chairman Mark Hall called it a “no-brainer,” adding that it was “a good, productive reuse of a landfill.”
AC Power, a renewable energy company focused on redeveloping brownfield sites, is leading the project. The company was founded in 2016 and specializes in landfill solar projects.
The APA, which oversees public and private development in the park, received no comments.
The agency’s 11-member board questioned whether the panel infrastructure would interfere with the landfill’s cap.
Agency staff did not have concerns that it would. APA staff said the state Department of Environmental Conservation approved a use modification request for the landfill and will continuously inspect the site.
No one at the meeting mentioned the landfill’s recent history and its potential ties to drinking water concerns.
News reports show in 2020, the DEC discovered multiple residents’ wells containing PFAS and 1,4-dioxane. Another news report from September notes some of those residents have been on bottled water ever since.
The town of Queensbury held a meeting last September where Supervisor John Strough said the DEC has not yet determined the cause of the contamination. There are three other private landfills in the area besides the town’s closed landfill. The town is currently working on a $7.7 million extension project to get drinking water to the area.
Strough could not be immediately reached for comment. The DEC did not immediately respond to the Explorer’s questions.
The landfill is currently the site of the town of Queensbury’s transfer station. The landfill opened in the 1940s and was closed in 1995.
Gwen is an award-winning journalist covering environmental policy for the Explorer since January 2020. She is a member of the Legislative Correspondents Association of New York. Gwen has worked at various… More by Gwendolyn Craig
1 Comment
Here’s a smart idea!
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Through its news reporting and analysis, the nonprofit Adirondack Explorer furthers the wise stewardship, public enjoyment for all, community vitality, and lasting protection of the Adirondack Park.
Stay Connected
30 Academy St., P.O. Box 1355, Saranac Lake, NY 12983 • Phone: (518) 891-9352
You must be logged in to post a comment.
