To the Editor:

Marion’s Energy Management Committee (EMC) would like to respond to Ted North’s letter in last week’s local papers regarding the solar garden planned for installation on the town’s capped landfill. He raised a number of questions and offered ample assertions, but much of that information was firmly rooted in fiction, not fact.

Solar arrays are sprouting on capped landfills all around the globe, and our own state leads the way in the United States. Incentive programs, funded by fees on our electric bills, are bearing fruit: As of 2013, 39 capped landfills in Massachusetts have been crowned with solar panels, generating about 78 megawatts of electricity. At about five kilowatts for a typical house, that’s enough clean, renewable power for 15,600 homes.

Why is siting solar arrays on landfills such a good idea? Let us count the ways: Capped landfills are otherwise unusable wastelands with full exposure to the sun. The capping technology is sound and durable, and solar arrays are constructive uses for these environmentally damaged areas with near-zero risk to the cap. Because of our state’s incentives for using landfills to generate renewable energy, the developer can offer that energy at lower rates than those from the utility company.

In Marion’s case, the town will also receive lease payments for the site and taxes on the equipment – income that the landfill would not generate otherwise. Contrary to information in Mr. North’s letter, the landfill solar garden will be a private operation. The developer will build, own, maintain, and eventually dismantle the system while the town’s residents will benefit from fees and access to clean solar energy. This project has already been approved by the Selectmen and by Marion’s residents at town meeting.

Concerns about damaging the membrane that covers the heap of trash in the landfill are completely unwarranted. Our landfill’s tough membrane is covered by at least two feet of soil, and under the membrane is another several feet of soil between it and the trash. Worst-case scenario, if somehow the membrane were pierced, it is a small matter to uncover the damaged location, patch the hole, and cover it up again. Further, a permit from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) must be obtained (at the developer’s expense, NOT the town’s) before any construction is allowed to begin.

Even though the risk of harm is near zero, the developer is required to carry environmental damage insurance, and the town already has insurance for the capped landfill. Note that large mowers and vehicles routinely drive up onto the landfill – the solar panels and ballast blocks are far lighter per square area.

The solar energy from the landfill will be available to all Marion residents in the form of credits to one’s electric bill. A resident will be able to purchase one or more 10-year subscriptions for a quantity of electricity that will be provided at a guaranteed discount on NSTAR’s rates. As yet we don’t have firm prices for the shares, as some costs related mainly to the grid connection are not yet known.

Our intention, however, is to offer shares in amounts that will suit even those with modest needs and means. Recall, however, that the objective of the landfill project is to provide virtual solar power to those who would install panels on their own property but cannot owing to unsuitable roof angles or shading – it is not meant to provide free electricity to all. That said, all residents would benefit from the tax and lease payments to the town, as well as the knowledge that Marion is becoming “greener.”

Finally, while the EMC has no objection to anyone who wants to regard the capped landfill as “sacred and hallowed ground,” in our view a mound of decomposing garbage covered in dirt does not quite meet that high standard. Rather, we believe our former dump should be put to good use by providing clean energy and some income for Marion’s residents.

Marion’s Energy Management Committee

Chair David Pierce, Rob Fisher, Jennifer Francis, Norm Hills, Eileen Marum, and Bill Saltonstall