A company based in New York City is proposing to construct a 10-megawatt solar array on a former landfill that is now an EPA Superfund site in Logan and Antis townships.

Residents who live along Sandy Run Road near the Delta Quarries & Disposal/Stotler tract oppose the AC Power project, citing concerns about disruption of wildlife, aesthetics, property values, noise and safety.

The company would need Logan Township to rezone much of the property from residential to industrial to accommodate the project. The township Planning Commission is waiting for more information before deciding whether to recommend such rezoning to the supervisors.

“It’s an opportunity to reutilize ground that is lost,” said Kyle Miller, mid-Atlantic regional director for the company, who attended a commission meeting last week. “Let’s not go out and destroy 120 acres of woodland or prime farmland, but rather revitalize something that is cleaned up, but still an issue.”

Such projects represent “the overarching approach” of the firm, which has installed two solar arrays on brownfields in New Jersey and has two more planned to begin operation before the end of the year, according to Miller and Henry Anreder, company vice president.

In keeping with deed restrictions on the site, the project would not involve digging into or penetration of the surface of the 6-foot clay cap on the old landfill, according to the project representatives, including consulting engineer Joe McDowell of Martin & Martin of Chambersburg.

The 4-by-6-foot solar panels would be on racks supported by disc-shaped concrete pads that would lay on top of what appears to be a grassy meadow.

It would be “a nonstarter” with the state Department of Environmental Protection or the federal Environmental Protection Agency if the firm were to propose burying cables or otherwise disturbing the cap, according to McDowell.

The agencies continue to monitor the site routinely, checking to ensure that groundwater pumped from under it continues to go for treatment to the Altoona Water Authority’s nearby Easterly Sewer Treatment Plant and that standpipes that vent methane gas are working, officials and a neighbor indicated.

The project would require poles and a transformer to take the electricity to distribution lines along Old Sixth Avenue Road to a nearby Penelec substation, officials indicated.

The company could sell the power wholesale to the electric grid, could enter into a power purchase agreement with a local company or institution or could become part of a “community solar” operation, with local residents joining by subscription, if such an option becomes legally available, according to Anreder and Miller.

The array could produce enough electricity to power about 250 homes, according to Anreder.

The company is focused for now on sale to the grid or a power purchase agreement, Miller said.

The site is relatively flat and there isn’t a lot of vegetation that would interfere with the sun hitting the panels, according to Anreder.

The EPA and the DEP are both favorably disposed to the project, based on preliminary discussions, according to McDowell.

Rezoning proposals can be tricky, because a project for which a petitioner needs rezoning may not seem objectionable to neighbors, even though rezoning generally clears the way for any use that the new zoning designation permits, township Planning Director Cassandra Schmick told the neighbors.

The petitioners themselves can change their minds and take advantage of those other uses, according to Schmick.

Moreover, state zoning law doesn’t allow municipalities to attach conditions when rezoning property, she said.

The AC Power case, however, is special, because the environmental deed restrictions against excavation on the former landfill site wouldn’t allow much of anything else to be placed there, other than what the company is proposing, Schmick said.

“You can’t put utilities, roads, footers, wells — you can’t even do a park,” Schmick said of the property. “Do you want kids playing on top of a landfill Superfund site?”

The company is asking the township to rezone only the ground that is subject to the deed restrictions, according to McDowell.

Based on the map the firm provided to the commission, it seems that ground extends all the way to the boundaries of the residential lots on Sandy Run.

The township is unlikely to rezone the residential lots, Schmick said.

Most of the residential lots shown are south of — and not adjacent to — the areas where the solar arrays would be placed, anyway, based on the map and information provided by company representatives.

The company wants that area next to those residential lots rezoned only to obtain access to the site from Old Sixth Avenue Road, the representatives said.

Before rezoning can take place, boundaries would need to be marked, nearby property owners notified, a hearing held and an ordinance amendment voted on by the supervisors, according Township Manager Tim Brown and Schmick.

Installing the solar arrays would mean increased tax revenue to the township, which “equates to a benefit for everyone,” given that the additional income would decrease others’ tax burdens, Schmick said.

Intervening woods would screen the solar array from all but one or two of the occupied residential properties, at least when the leaves are on the trees, according to company representatives.

The company has no plans to remove any of the trees, according to McDowell.

“I’m happy to hear there will be no trees removed,” said neighbor Dawn Bettwy. “But a lot of wildlife will still be disturbed.”

One resident talked about a six- or eight-point buck followed by a doe and a flock of turkeys that frequent his property.

“We understand green energy and all that, and we’re in favor of it,” said neighbor Cindy Bathurst. “(But) we love where we are.”

She worries that some of that beauty of the area would be lost, that there wouldn’t be as many animals to watch, that property values would decline and that there could be safety concerns.

Those safety concerns include problems that could occur, for example, if a hailstorm broke some of the panels, she said.

The company will provide safety information to the residents, company representatives said.

The resident who sees the buck asked about noise.

The array would be quiet, according to Anreder.

Glare wouldn’t be an issue, because the panels would be coated with anti-reflective material, Anreder said.

Construction would take a few months and maintenance would be required a few times a year, according to Anreder.

The company has an agreement to negotiate a lease with the current landowner, Delta Quarries and Disposal Inc.

The lease would be for 25 years, with options for two five-year renewals, for a total of 35 years, according to McDowell.

The useful life of the project is 35 years, he said.

The company would be responsible for removing the equipment when it’s no longer operative, according to Miller.

That responsibility is typically guaranteed through a bond, McDowell said.

The section of the site in Logan Township was first used as a landfill in the late 1950s, according to John Niebauer, who owns the landfill property now, citing information he heard from the family that once operated landfill services on the Logan side.

It was known then as the Stotler landfill, he said.

The section in Antis Township was first used as a landfill in the 1970s, according to Niebauer.

It was known then as the Parshall landfill, he said.

Ultimately, the two separate landfills were combined with the Delta-Altoona Sanitary Landfill to form one large facility, according to the EPA page for the Superfund site.

The landfill operations continued until 1985, according to the EPA.

The Potentially Responsible Parties entered into a consent order and agreement to close the site in 1984, and in 1987, the site was covered with soil, according to the EPA.

A study on how best to remediate the site and clean it up was completed in 1991, followed by an EPA decision that led to the pumping and treating of the ground water, the establishment of the deed and access restrictions and responsibility for maintaining the cap, installing a gas vent system and monitoring the site long-term, according to the EPA.

Fencing was installed in 1992.

The groundwater extraction system was completed in 1996.

Neibauer obtained the clay that forms the cap from 400 acres he owned at the time across Sandy Run Road near the boundary with Antis Township, digging down about 40 feet, spreading the clay over 111 acres, he said.

Rock used in stabilizing the work came from a quarry near the landfill.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 949-7038.