MOUNT GILEAD — The Ohio Power Siting Board has ordered improvements at the Blossom Solar construction site in northern Morrow County.
Shawn Rowley, an inspector with the OPSB compliance section, issued a notice to the company on Wednesday after inspectors visited the site Tuesday, along with members of the Morrow County Soil & Water Conservation District.
“As we discussed, there are several items that require attention over the next couple of weeks in order for the Project to comply with its OPSB certificate,” Rowley told Sol Systems, owner of the $100 million project, and QCells, which is handling construction.
Requirements include stabilizing the laydown yard and access roads with gravel and also revegetating (seeding either via injection or with appropriate straw covering) the area that is currently being used for personnel parking.
Rowley also said the contractor must make improvements in the “(shortcut) area between the current construction driveway and the temporary parking area.”
(Above is a letter emailed Wednesday to Blossom Solar from the OPSB requiring improvements at the construction site in northern Morrow County.)
Those changes must include installing fencing to stop vehicle traffic and also tilling and revegetating the area.
The OPSB is also requiring stabilization of long-term spoil piles and adding road signage for public safety purposes.
Rowley said OPSB staff has scheduled a follow-up call on Aug. 26 to further discuss the issues.
“I will contact you regarding the time for my in-person inspection on (Sept. 5), as well as the cadence for bi-monthly inspections over the next several months,” Rowley said in his notice to the company.
On Tuesday, a spokesman for Sol Systems told Richland Source via email the company was aware of the letter and “takes any concerns about safety and community impact seriously.”
“Public safety is a core priority. Construction is being conducted under an approved Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP), with erosion controls, fencing, signage, and traffic management plans in place,” said Mark Walter, vice president of external affairs for Sol Systems.
He said the project is being developed in full compliance with all applicable laws, safety protocols and permitting requirements.
The OPSB notification was praised by Jeff Sellers, business manager for Mansfield-based Laborers Local 1216, which on Monday evening contacted the OPSB and asked construction be halted.
The union cited “serious safety, environmental and public health concerns” in a letter to the OPSB, the MCSWD, Morrow County commissioners and other statewide agencies.
Laborers Local 1216 and IBEW Local 688, both based in Mansfield, and Local 18 of the International Union of Operating Engineers have demonstrated at the site since construction began, claiming local union workers have not been given the opportunity to fill what they believe are around 350 construction jobs.
“(Rowley’s notice to the company) confirms the suspicions we have had all along,” Sellers told Richland Source on Wednesday afternoon. “That’s the reason we have been out there for the last several weeks.
“At the job site, we have told the contractor several times of our concerns and recommended improvements and they just haven’t done anything to address those concerns,” Sellers said.
The union leader thanked state and local officials “for taking this matter extremely seriously.”
“Everything we have been calling out is now hopefully going to be fixed,” Sellers said, adding union workers will continue to monitor the construction site.
“We plan on going nowhere,” he said.
