December 15, 2020 GMT
BRUNSWICK, Maine (AP) Maine environmentalists have criticized Bowdoin College’s planned solar panel expansion at Brunswick Landing that could harm a coastal grassland.
The expansion will add an 18,000-panel solar array across 20 acres to the 2,150-panel array built in 2014 and be built on the Little Bluestem-Blueberry Sandplain Grassland, Bangor Daily News reported.
The site is one of four that were identified by the Maine Natural Areas Program to be “critically imperiled” due to its rarity.
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According to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the low-lying grassy habitat is home to two species of “special concern,” the prairie warbler and eastern towhee. A third species of “special concern,” the black and white warbler, have been documented using the forest edges of the college’s 115-acre parcel at Brunswick Landing.
Some environmentalists worry Bowdoin College’s new solar array will harm rare grassland
The 20-acre, 18,000-panel solar array will help offset the college s energy consumption, but the land is situated on a rare, critically imperiled grassland that environmentalists worry will be harmed by the project.
Hannah LaClaire / The Times Record
BRUNSWICK Bowdoin College’s plans for a 20-acre solar array at Brunswick Landing are another step toward long-term sustainability for the college, but some local environmentalists are concerned that the array will put the health of a rare “critically imperiled” sandplain grassland further at risk.
Planning board officials approved the project last week in a 5-2 vote. Members Jane Arbuckle and Robert Burgess voted against, citing concerns that the impact on plant habitat made the project incompatible with the town ordinance.