CEP renewable energy sources, NJR Clean Energy Ventures And CS energy have completed the 19 MWdirect current Foul Rift solar project located in White Township of Warren County, New Jersey. The project was built on a brownfield, a site with significant environmental damage, where a composting plant had existed for almost 30 years.
The 19 MW Foul Rift solar project in Warren County, New Jersey. CEP renewable energy sources
“This project demonstrates both New Jersey’s strong policy support for brownfield and landfill solar projects and the power of an electric solar farm development to remediate environmental damage that would otherwise have gone unaddressed,” said Chris Ichter, executive VP at CEP. . “We were able to build on our previous experience with similarly challenging brownfield and landfill solar projects to develop an effective public-private partnership with White Township that will positively impact generations to come.”
Before its closure, the facility had an extensive history of environmental violations by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP). When CEP first encountered this property, it was contaminated by the composting plant’s activities. An environmental investigation found that the soil was contaminated with metals, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and arsenic, requiring institutional monitoring.
The investigation revealed a total of 92 separate notices of environmental violations by NJDEP. To bring the site into compliance with regulations, CEP cleared the remaining compost berm and waste materials and negotiated with NJDEP a pre-purchase administrative consent order to effectively resolve the remaining violations and terminate the solid waste permit. CEP repaired environmental damage at the site while providing reliable clean energy, pollinator habitat and increased tax revenue for the local community.
Similar to CEP’s Mount Olive and BEMS landfill solar projects, the Foul Rift project was also acquired through the redevelopment and tax lien foreclosure process, a method unprecedented before the Mount Olive project. CEP addressed the site’s millions of dollars in tax liens by entering into a public-private partnership with the White Township, under which CEP acquired the township’s tax liens, refunded all back taxes and foreclosed on the property. CEP now owns the property, and White Township has been able to recoup about three decades of interest and back taxes.
Not only has the Foul Rift project turned an environmentally hazardous site into a revenue generator, it has also helped New Jersey retain its position as a U.S. state with the most installed solar capacity per square kilometer.
News item from CEP Renewables