CARBONDALE (AP) — The Carbondale City Council is ready to vote on a proposed solar power project at a former wood treatment plant.
The Southern Illinoisan reports the city will vote March 24 on a special use permit sought by Massachusetts-based Brightfields Development.
The company wants to install solar panels on about 70 acres of the ex-Koppers plant property, where railroad ties and utility poles were treated with chemical preservatives between 1902 and 1991.
But some residents say they worry that construction will disturb contaminated soil because some of the pollution has been capped on site.
Acting Mayor Don Monty says Brightfields officials offered to pay the city an annual sum of around $500,000.
Brightfields Managing Principal Pete Pedersen says the money would be paid over the project’s estimated 20-year lifespan.