Factoring in buffers, wetlands and other undevelopable segments.. 38 acres of the property will have solar panels. The total property size is 64 acres.
developed in three separate phases
Once completed it will generate a combined 15 MW of power, which is stated will serve over 500 low and moderate income residents in the PSEG territory of Gloucester County
located on a mostly undeveloped stretch of Almonesson Road between the New Jersey Turnpike and the Big Timber Creek
From the 1940s through the 1970s the planned solar field property was used as a pig farm which received food waste from Philadelphia restaurants. The food waste was used as feed for the pigs.
from the 1930s to the 1970s the property was mostly open space. When the farming stopped operating, Mother Nature took over and trees grew into a fully wooded property.
was also used as an unapproved landfill in some parts, particularly on the Western half. Besides solid waste in areas, it introduced contaminants into the soil and groundwater. To this day the property has never been closed (contained) nor environmentally monitored.
As part of the development of the solar field, the developer is required to close the property under an agreement (and guidance) with the State of New Jersey, as well as continue monitoring it for 30 years after closure.
Project documents state the source of the landfill material consisted of domestic food wastes mixed with inorganic solid wastes (plates, silver ware, bottles, etc.). Deptford Township’s resolution on the approval of the project describes the contamination as “contaminated with municipal refuse from feeding operations. In general, the refuse was disposed of in pits or mixed in with soil in the upper layers of the site”
prior use decades ago introduced contaminants in the soil and groundwater, including PCBs, pesticides, and metals (arsenic, lead, and vanadium) in soil and sediments and trichloroethene (TCE), metals (arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury), and landfill indicator nitrogen (as ammonia) in ground water.
likely why residential housing developers did not grab up this property 30 years ago to build homes!