Solar Farms

Stormwater run-off could come in contact with chemicals, debris, wastes, and other outside storage. If stormwater is not properly controlled, contained, or pre-treated before discharge into sanitary or storm drainage systems, it can pollute soil and groundwater or discharge directly into surface waters, impacting human health and aquatic systems.

Contaminated stormwater run-off from adjacent properties could migrate onto solar farm properties, creating environmental liability. The liability burden could be placed on the solar farm’s owner if the contamination’s originator becomes insolvent or the source of the contamination cannot be confirmed.

Illicit abandonment is the illegal dumping of pollutants on a property by a third party. It can become the property owner’s burden for cleanup and third-party bodily injury or property damage if law enforcement cannot locate the originator of the waste.

Solar farm properties could have previously been used as farmland, orchards, or vineyards and may have been exposed to pesticides. The term pesticide covers many compounds, including insecticides, rodenticides, molluscicides, nematicides, plant growth regulators, and others. Applied pesticides can leach through the soil, migrate into groundwater, or become mobile through run-off drift and enter surface water or adjacent properties. Pesticide contamination can impact the drinking water supply and cause natural resource damage to non-target organisms, ranging from beneficial soil microorganisms to killing bees, wildlife, and aquatic systems.

Existing soil or groundwater contamination may be on, under, or adjacent to a property, resulting in potential environmental liability. Without knowledge of existing contamination at the site, the property owner may be held responsible for addressing the property’s cleanup or remediation.

Inadequate security at a solar farm can allow vandalism to occur. Damage to facility equipment, such as solar panels, aboveground tanks, or containers of chemicals, can result in environmental releases.

Solar panels are manufactured using hazardous materials such as lead, cadmium, sulfuric acid, silica, and chromium and are considered a form of toxic, hazardous electronic waste. Disposed materials can pose an environmental liability if toxic materials leach out and contaminate soil and water supplies. Improper disposal could lead to cleanup and third-party liability, and there may be legal consequences for violating RCRA hazardous waste requirements.