Adirondack Park to host state’s first “Build-Ready” project
By Gwendolyn Craig
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority selected renewable energy developer CleanCapital to erect the state’s first “Build-Ready” solar facility on a former mine in the Adirondack Park.
The 12-megawatt project is expected to generate enough power for 3,000 homes annually. CleanCapital will build it on the former Benson Mines in St. Lawrence County.
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NYSERDA made the announcement Thursday, calling it “one of the largest solar projects in the Adirondack Park.” The Adirondack Park Agency has approved projects as large as 20 megawatts in the Champlain Valley, and the state Office of Renewable Energy Siting is in the process of permitting a 40-megawatt facility in the park along Great Sacandaga Lake.
NYSERDA had originally pitched the Benson Mines project as a 20-megawatt facility, but later found the interconnection to utility transmission lines could not handle that amount of power. It deemed upgrading that interconnection too time consuming and costly.
NYSERDA President and CEO Doreen Harris called the selection of a developer “a significant achievement for NYSERDA’s Build-Ready program as we have now completed our first auction and are supporting the transformation of this underutilized site into something that is in fact, build-ready.”
The “Build-Ready” program involves NYSERDA evaluating underutilized sites, gathering the necessary permits and designing and figuring out the grid connections of a project. It then goes out to public auction to find a developer.
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The former iron-ore mine is a rare slice of industrially zoned land in the Adirondacks. Once owned by J&L Steel Corp., it was considered “the largest open pit magnetite mine in the world and employed up to 1,000 people,” according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Some of the mine became part of a federal superfund site, though the solar project is not proposed on that portion.
CleanCapital Chief Development Officer Paul Curran said the company is “thrilled to have the opportunity to build and operate the inaugural project in NYSERDA’s Build-Ready program,” adding that it “will be an outstanding example of the abundant opportunities for renewable energy development on brownfields here in New York State.”
The mine continues to sell aggregate and is also a timber company.
Patrick Kelly, CEO of the St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency, said a payment in lieu of taxes agreement will yield $5,000 per megawatt for 20 years, increasing at 2% a year. CleanCapital will also provide the IDA with a $200,000 Host Community Benefit Fund. The fund’s goals, Kelly said, are to improve building facades, assist small businesses with renovations, support energy efficiency programs and other projects in the Clifton-Fine School District.
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Kelly described the solar project as a “positive outcome” considering there were no other development possibilities on the horizon for the site. Now it will generate some revenue for the region, contribute to the state’s renewable energy goals and provide a benefit fund to the community, he said. The project also leaves other parts of the property open to additional development opportunities.
The Adirondack Park Agency, which oversees public and private development in the 6-million-acre mix of public and private lands, permitted the project at 20 megawatts in 2022.
APA Executive Director Barbara Rice called it “an outstanding example of how to integrate large-scale solar projects into rural communities and protected landscapes.”
Top photo: A view of the project area as seen from the western side. The entrance into Benson Mines is in the distance center. Photo by Tom French
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I couldn’t quickly put my hands on the details of the permit. Will conservation plantings be part of the project? Or will it be treated like typical mine tailings with runoff and potential water-table pollution? Conservation planting, including low-growing shrubs and pollinator species may help with leaching and slowly begin to re-generate the soil biome to a more natural state. Even with panel arrays in place, the site doesn’t have to be a monoculture wasteland.
My thoughts on this topic as well Boreas. Who may we speak with regarding additional questions directly?
Some resources for your review,
file:///C:/Users/billk/Downloads/2021-05-25-BR-Benson-Mines-Presentation.pdf
file:///C:/Users/billk/Downloads/2021-05-25-BR-Benson-Mines-Q-and-A.pdf
Enjoy
The solar project is not being built on the main Benson Mines property north of Route 3, but on a smaller triangular plot of land between the Star Lake Transfer Station and the Saint Hubert’s cemetery. The land was used for mine tailings and is in the early stage of an ecological succession. There are birches and small firs and the ground is covered in lichen. There is a grove of rare orchids near the Little River shoreline. All soon to be covered by solar panels manufactured in China.
The federal remediated area was 52 acres North of Rte 3, site of former J&L sintering plant which already has an internal road system and a newly refurbished direct railroad spur for materials delivery.
The tailings pile is South of Rte 3, which I think it is still owned by the Benson family and not federally remediated – why there, they will have to build access roads from Rte 3, on a hill of unknown stability and soil quality which is the by-product (sand?) of the sintering process.
That should produce enough power for approximately 3000 homes in Cranberry Lk,Newton Falls and Star Lk – where will the power be sent? How many project bidders?
When I attended Clarkson College back in the mid-seventies the mine was closing down and the guard shack was still manned. I was sad to see it close. More jobs and tax base gone.