McFail’s Cave.
(Mistake) Cave.
Grovenor’s Corners Spring.
Tillapaugh’s Collapsed Sink.
Those are among a list of 49 caves and sinks in the Town of Carlisle.
And one of the biggest arguments against plans for a 20-MW solar in the eyes of Tracey Metz, who lives downhill from just one of the scattered fields that will be covered with panels if Rock District Solar gets the state OK.
A public hearing on the project will be held next Wednesday, October 9, 6pm at the Quality Inn & Suites in Schoharie. (See related story in this week's paper edition.)
Ms. Metz’s other concerns?
Traffic and safety—especially for her Amish neighbors and especially if there’s ever a fire and emergency evacuations.
“With horses and wagons? How are they ever going to get out?”
Ms. Metz is one of the members of CASA--Citizens Against Solar Arrays—who’s spent the least year immersed in large-scale solar and learning how it could impact the water that runs through the network of caves and sinkholes on its way to the Cobleskill and Schoharie Creeks.
A spring below Gordon Road in the Town of Seward—that’s where the proposed project’s substation would be built--is the starting point for two tributaries that run behind her home at the corner of Little York and Brown Roads; there’s also a spring in her backyard that she has deeded rights to.
Ms. Metz is worried any contamination from construction, oil or fuel spills, runoff from panels, or a potentially disastrous fire could contaminate hundreds of wells along Little York, Karker, Hubb Shutts, Brown, Rock District, and Gordon Roads.
She’s also concerned that the project and again, the construction, will impact Carlisle’s unique history, including Rock House Cave, used by Peter Young’s wife, Elizabeth, to hide from Tories during the Revolutionary War.
“They’re going to destroy this?” she asked.
And finally, she’s worried about Amish neighbors like like Jonas Gingerich and his family “who are just trying to make a living.” and the well-attended Amish school where Rock District hits Route 145 on a sharp, dangerous turn.
“This isn’t why any of us live here,” Ms. Metz said.
“They have no right to do this. I hope people turn out [on the 9th]. But maybe it’s too late. Maybe they’re already forgotten.”