Dear Community Member,

The City of Rome is currently entertaining the idea of allowing a Class 3 Solar Farm Project on Old Oneida Road.  The proposed project site is currently zoned Agricultural.  The city of Rome Zoning Board of Appeals is deciding on whether or not to allow this industrial/commercial use in an area where such uses are currently prohibited. You may, or may not be in support of such projects, but as a citizen, community member and City of Rome taxpayer there are some things I think you should be aware of.

Emeren Group Ltd. (Emeren), a global solar project developer, is a foreign company based in the British Virgin Islands.  Emeren will not pay City of Rome taxes for 15 years.  This company will also not pay Oneida County, or NYS sales tax on the energy it produces and sells.  This foreign company is funding this project with your taxpayer dollars, through NYS subsidies.  They will build it with our money, not pay any taxes and reap all the financial benefits.  Our energy costs will not decrease, our taxes will not go down, and our property values will not go up, there is no benefit for the people of Rome.

This company has built thousands of solar fields around the world.  At the last zoning board of appeals meeting on Wednesday May 1st, 2024, Emeren was asked how many solar fields they currently own, and the number was six.  Emeren owns six out of the thousands of solar fields they have built.  They will come into our community, use our tax money to build a site and then immediately sell it to the highest bidder.  Odds are the site will be bought and sold multiple times and then abandoned.  The taxpayers of this county and the City of Rome will be on the hook for decommissioning this site!  Emeren will provide a $120,000 bond to the City of Rome to decommission the site.  The actual costs of decommissioning a site like this in 30 years will be closer to $2,000,000.  The taxpayers of the city and county will be stuck with this bill!

Here is a brief list of some materials found in solar panels:

ARSENIC –International Agency for Research on Cancer: “Carcinogenic to humans and has also stated that arsenic in drinking-water is carcinogenic to humans.”

CADMIUM – National Cancer Institute: “Cadmium and its compounds are highly toxic and exposure is known to cause cancer.  It is primarily associated with human lung, prostate and kidney cancers, and recently pancreatic cancer.”

COPPER – Center for Disease Control: “Ingesting higher than recommended amount of copper every day over time, such as in water or in copper supplements, can lead to severe illness, such as kidney and liver damage.”

LEAD- World Health Organization: “Increased risk of high blood pressure, cardiovascular problems, and kidney damage.  Exposer of pregnant women to high levels of lead can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth, and low birth weight.”

The runoff from this proposed project drains directly into two NYS delineated wetlands and into a Class 3 intermittent stream that drains directly onto neighboring properties, then into the Rome Wildlife Management Area.  Your fellow community members directly impacted by this project area are all on wells, and do not have City of Rome water.  NYS DEC is in the process of classifying solar panels as a hazardous material.  When the solar panels' useful life cycle is complete, they must be recycled and disposed of somewhere.  Right now, the DEC is in the process of saying that somewhere must be a hazardous materials dump.  Is this something we want filtering into our watershed, streams, and wells for 20 years?

Whether or not you agree with the solar agenda is besides the point, there are plenty of acceptable places in Rome to put solar fields, but this is not one of them.  

Please support your neighbors and fellow community members by signing this petition against the approval of this project.  We need your help to protect the City of Rome.  Let’s not be the city in 15-20 years who regrets replacing our farm land with solar fields, contaminating and depleting our land, and not knowing the long-term effects that a solar field comprised of 13,880 panels will leave us with.  They are using us and our community to make a buck, they do not care about New York or the City of Rome, profits are their only motivator.  Pushing green energy should not come at the cost of the taxpayer and it shouldn’t come at the risk of our children’s health.  

There is a Zoning Board of Appeals meeting Monday, June 3rd at 6:30PM at Rome City Hall, your support and attendance would be greatly appreciated.