‘It would be very detrimental’: Neighbors pack hearing on Lancaster County solar farm

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – On Tuesday, the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners held a public hearing to discuss a proposed solar farm near Hallam.

The 2,400-acre solar farm is intended to help the state move toward clean energy, but neighbors and farmers voiced their concerns in a six-hour hearing.

The developer, NextEra Energy, said the farm bring in $42 million in tax revenue.

SEE ALSO: Planning board gives green light to 2,400-acre Lancaster County solar farm

At least eight people spoke in favor of the project on Tuesday.

“The project would create approximately 250 construction jobs,” said Anthony Strong, a member of the International Union of Operating Engineers. “Both temporary and full-time employees will reside and spend money in the county, generating spinoff.”

But numerous farmers and ranchers filled the room, expressing fear about the environmental and economic impacts the development could have.

Torri Ortiz-Lienemann, her daughter and her son would live next to the proposed solar farm.

“The ranch that I live on and have raised my children and continued to make a livelihood on would be surrounded by this large solar industrial complex,” she said. “It would definitely impact what we do as a ranch and what we do as a family and the safety of my children and my grandchildren.”

SEE ALSO: Meeting on proposed 2,400-acre solar farm in Lancaster County gets heated

The major concern leaving neighbors worried is the potential fires and response times in rural Nebraska.

Lienemann’s son, Taylor, is a firefighter and said the solar panels will get in crews’ way as they battle grass fires like last fall’s.

“We were able to put out the fires through using equipment and tractors and disks by tilling up the soil and turning it over so it has no fuel or something to burn,” he said. “And with these solar panels in the way, we would not be able to do that, and it would be very detrimental to the land and to everyone around it.”

For many, Lancaster County’s farmland is more than just land; it’s a legacy.

“My late husband and I purchased this property and built it from the ground up,” Lienemann said. “We were given nothing, and we built a nice ranch to try and pass on to our children and our grandchildren.”

But she said this project puts that in jeopardy.

Other opponents also said this project would harm the future of rural Nebraska.

Sandy Hermesch lives 1 mile away from the proposed farm’s batteries and fears for her young grandchildren.

“I don’t want my grandkids to grow up and be around that kind of environment,” she said.

Lienemann hosted the 2016 Nebraska Cattlemen’s ball on her ranch and said if the solar panels go in, she’s sure it would no longer be an event venue.

The Board of Commissioners plans to vote on the project next Tuesday.