Solar project gets green light despite BNSF safety objections

Mohave County, Ariz., Supervisors unanimously approved general plan amendments that allow a large-scale proposed 1200MW solar project to go head despite opposition from railroad officials, Havasu News reports. The vote came down after BNSF officials pleaded with supervisors for a continuance citing safety concerns surrounding Needle Mountain Power's Sterling Solar Generating Facility, slotted to set up shop northwest of the Interstate 40 and State Route 95 interchange.  

BNSF official Heidi Short
said the railroad was only "recently aware" of the project located adjacent to
railway tracks that run parallel to Interstate 40. Short told supervisors she
felt the applicant failed to notify the railway and was missing materials in
its presentation of the project. Short added the project could pose a safety
hazards to passing trains. BNSF asked supervisors for 90 days to create a model
study.

The study would center on
"glare and glint" reflecting off the mirror-like surfaces of the 50,000
Suncatcher dish-type panels associated with the project. Railroad officials
said the glare and glint could prevent train engineers from properly perceiving
signals or even create phantom signals, which could ultimately mislead train
engineers. The safety risks were equated to the costly outcomes including
having to stop a moving train, a train derailment or even a train collision,
the BNSF officials said.

BNSF said studies have
shown that one Suncatcher dish needs 223 feet to avoid the problem. The
information is based on a sole Suncatcher, not 50,000 as is proposed.

Chris Ballard, of county
planning and zoning, said the project comes within 600 feet of the railroad’s
right-of-way in a section spanning about two miles on the westernmost portion
of the 10,000-acre land parcel.

County supervisors told
the railway officials that delays could hinder the project’s progress. The
supervisors’ staff said BNSF had been mailed a notice to its Kingman-based
operations office June 14.

"I had known that
(Sterling Solar) had gone to the railroad with negotiations for development of
a rail spur for industrial development in that area," said Supervisor Buster
Johnson, R-Dist. 3, after the meeting. "Nobody is going to put that much (money
and time) into a project and have it derail a train and get shut down."

The supervisors did amend
the project’s rezone approval to include a liaison between BNSF and Sterling
Solar to reach an agreement.

"(The overall approval)
is very, very important," said Michael Clinton, co-manager of Needle Mountain
Power. "The PNZ and their staff has been a tremendous group to work with. (Monday’s)
result is because of really excellent staff work that has been done on (the
project) in the past four or five months."

Clinton said he was
surprised BNSF railway "hadn’t done their homework," especially after he has
made many efforts in the past year to inform them of ongoing public meetings
centering on the project.

An environmental
compliance process and the site plan process is the next hurdle the project’s
coordinators will face. Development efforts for both will begin in early 2011,
Clinton said.

The site plan process in
particular will present an opportunity to resolve any concerns surrounding of
the project. BNSF and their safety concerns and the expressed need for improved
transportation and infrastructure by stakeholders along the eastern edge of the
property are already on Clinton’s radar, he said. The strategy is to open the
site plan process up to the public, the stakeholders and any other interested
parties well in advance of presenting it to the county, Clinton said.