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4D Solar Senator., panels, ra ruin" fields BY COLIN CAMPBELL AND BENJAMIN BROWN ccampbell@newsobserver.com bbrown @ncinsider.com N.C. Sen. Bill Cook, a Beaufort County Repub- lican, says the state needs to tackle the growth of solar farms on agricultural fields because the land that's used is "pretty well ruined" for future farm- ing. The topic surfaced Thursday during a legisla- tive committee meeting on agriculture. A repre- sentative from the N.C. FROM PAGE SOLAR lican who is a farmer and chairs several agricultural committees, said he agrees with Cook that solar farms are a concern. But "it's a smaller issue in my opinion compared to houses," he said. Thursday's discussion at the legislature wasn't the first time solar farms have prompted concerns in that you guys are con- cerned about the use of farmland for solar farms and such," Cook said. "1 recently read an article about it, and it sounds like once farmland is convert- ed to use for solar farms, it's not coming back, and eventually that land is pretty well ruined for any kind of farming." Experts on solar energy say Cook's concerns are largely unfounded. Steve Kalland, executive direc- tor of the N.C. Clean En- ergy Technology Center at N.C. State, said the long- term impact of solar pan- els on farmland is small and manageable. He listed several minor potential effects: Gravel roads to install and main- tain the panels could lead to some soil compacting. . Herbicides are often used to keep plants from grow North Carolina. Last month, the tiny North- ampton County town of Woodland passed a mora- torium on new solar farms. Leaders there said they didn't want solar installations surrounding the town on all sides. But Woodland got international notoriety after several residents' w�. c r comments went viral online. One warned that solar panels would suck up energy from the sun, while another noted that the area had seen an increase in cancer deaths. Done of those issues were raised at Thursday's meetings. But Wood Far- less, a Bertie County farm- er appointed to the panel by Gov. Pat McCrory, voiced a concern specific to Eastern North Carolina. "If a hurricane comes in and wipes out one of the solar farms, it's categor- ized as a hazardous waste," Farless said. "it's cost prohibitive to clean that up." Colin Campbell: 919 -829 -4698, @a RaleighReporter