Mullica considers solar panels at dump site

From the Press of Atlantic City, Rob Spahr, Staff Writer-Friday, August 7, 2009

MULLICA TOWNSHIP - The township does not have water or sewer lines, but it could soon be in the solar panel business.

Township officials are pursuing a plan to lease a portion of the former garbage dump behind the waste transfer station on Elwood-Weekstown Road so it can be used for a solar farm.

Committeewoman Kathy Chasey said the plan is still in the informal stages, but the Township Committee is closely monitoring Galloway Township's ongoing efforts to use its defunct 70-acre Oak Avenue landfill site for a similar purpose.

"Their site is very similar to ours, so it makes sense for us to watch what goes on there before we jump into this," Chasey said. "We want to see what kind of constraints they are faced with, what their bids come in at and what utility upgrades, if any, are needed."

Mullica's 134.5-acre site - which officially stopped accepting trash in 1990 but had trash still dumped there illegally for at least a couple of years after it was closed - is about half clear of trees and is the highest point in the township, which Chasey said makes it an ideal location for a solar park.

"Its height is a positive, but there are also already electrical lines that line past the entire length of the property, and there are very few homes in the area," Chasey said. "And monetarily, this will be a good thing for us because it will bring in a new source of revenue. That's the number one thing."

Chasey said the solar park would not interfere with the operations at the nearby waste transfer station.

"It was a concern of ours, because the transfer station is operational three and a half days a week," she said. "But we were told that there would not be a problem."

The township still has to find out if the former dump site is a viable location for a solar farm. But if it is, Chasey said, it could take only about six months to get the panels installed once the plans are finalized.

As opposed to larger municipalities that operate their own solar parks for profit, Chasey said the township would likely choose to generate income from a lease agreement alone.

"The cost of putting all that infrastructure in ourselves would be too much for our small municipality to handle," Chasey said.

Chasey said it is too soon to speculate how much money the potential solar park could save taxpayers.

"Right now, it's just wait and see," she said. "But it will certainly be a positive step for us to take."

And in a township that has recently been a hotbed of political strife, including arguments over whether to regulate public gatherings at the trash transfer station, the solar plan could be a rare common ground.

"I'm absolutely in favor of leasing the former dump for solar panels," said Committeeman Bernard Graebener, one of two Democrats on the Township Committee, who said he has not been involved in any official discussions regarding the plan. "I think the big thing is that we're kept in the loop so nothing is sprung on us at the last minute."