Texas just surpassed California as the state with the most solar panel farms and new ones are popping up all over the Lone Star state.
But construction of a solar farm outside Bandera has met with major resistance from residents.
When completed, the Rio Lago Solar Project will provide enough power for 22,800 homes. But the company building the solar farm is now in federal court fighting allegations from residents that runoff from the site is polluting their properties and killing wildlife.
We first reported on the dispute in March, when a group of Bandera property owners tried to block crews from clearing land for the solar farm.
“It’s going to be horrific; it’s going to be noisy it’s going to be ugly, nobody is going to want to buy here,” said Patti Wiatrek who lives next to the site.
At the time, Wiatrek and other nearby landowners argued removing trees and disturbing the soil would lead to runoff that could pollute their properties.
They claim that’s exactly what happened when it rained over the summer. They told a federal court last week the sediment from the site contaminated their water tanks and killed turtles and fish.
“At this point we want it shut down until everybody can figure out what is going on and everybody can come to an agreement that there will be no further harm,” Wiatrek said.
A company called Pine Gate Renewables based in North Carolina is building the solar farm. Earlier this year it provided a rendering of the finished project which it says will be largely concealed by fencing and landscaping.
“What we’ve come up with is a way that minimizes the impact on the local surroundings but also allows us to move forward with the project,” said Jay Linke of Pine Gate Renewables in a Zoom interview last March.
Pine Gate gave us a new statement this week reading in part: “Pine Gate Renewables continues to deploy safe and responsible construction and engineering practices on the project site. The project has maintained compliance with all state and federal permitting requirements.”
“We remain confident in the Rio Lago Solar project and the future of solar energy in Texas. We believe that solar has a critical role to play in supporting the local economy, powering the growing state, and providing another domestic and reliable source of energy for generations to come.”
The solar farm feud is causing tension in the small town of Bandera.
The day after last week’s hearing, Wiatrek discovered three dead deer piled up in her driveway in front of her sign opposing the project.
“Somebody did this on purpose,” Wiatrek said.
She reported it to the sheriff’s department, but no one has been charged.
Pine Gate Renewables said in its statement: “Pine Gate Renewables had no knowledge of this incident prior to News 4 San Antonio’s inquiry. We respect the authority of local law enforcement as they investigate this matter.”
Other Bandera residents showed up at the court hearing to support opponents of the solar farm.
“None of this energy from a million solar panels will come into Bandera County at all but it will have long lasting effects,” said Carrie Crumrine.
Pine Gate Renewables disputes that, saying it’s closer to half a million solar panels and that the power will be distributed throughout ERCOT’s system including in Bandera.
Both sides will be in court again Friday. Residents are asking a judge to halt the project and order changes to be made to reduce runoff.