|
|
Basin and Range Watch
Solar Project will Engulf Rhyolite Ghost Town - Send a Letter to the Nevada State Lands Commission
June 21st, 2021
|
|
^View of the site of the proposed 6,515 acre (10 square mile) Beatty Energy Center Project from the school building in the Rhyolite Ghost Town. The project would trash the view from the famous Rhyolite Ghost Town and East Entrance of Death Valley National Park. |
|
Massive solar project proposed for the eastern boundary of Death Valley National Park |
Boulevard Associates, LLC, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC is proposing to the US Bureau of Land Management to build the Beatty Energy Center Project, an 800-megawatt (“MW”) solar photovoltaic (“Solar PV”) facility and energy storage project on 6,515 acres of public lands in Nye County, Nevada. A 2-mile-long 230 kilovolt generation tie-in line would extend to the Valley Electric Association Beatty substation. The project Plan of Development states that the construction would create several miles of new 20 foot wide access roads on the site. Millions of solar panels would replace the desert habitat and be pounded into the ground with pile drivers. Thousands of acres of the Amargosa Valley would be bladed and crushed by heavy vehicles. A 50 acre lithium-ion battery storage facility would be built on site. Close to 2,000 acre feet or more of water will be needed for dust mitigation during construction. Heavy truck traffic would be common place for 2 years along Highway 374 and the entrance to Titus Canyon in Death Valley National Park. Solar projects of this size only create about 10-15 full time jobs.
|
Not Just a Bad Idea - A Freaking Train Wreck! |
We have followed dozens of solar projects in the last 12 years and location choices don't get much worst than this! Although the company claims there would be no environmental impacts, they want the project right next to the border of Death Valley National Park. Solar panels would surround both sides of the entrance of the famous Death Valley backcountry road, Titus Canyon. The entire eastern view of the park would be compromised. A giant list of impacts would occur if this project is constructed.
These include irreversible visual impacts to sweeping vistas and historical landscapes.
Project construction will create fugitive dust problems and potentially cause health issues for local people and tourists visiting Death Valley National Park.
Large numbers of bird mortalities have been detected on several large-scale solar projects. It is believed that solar panels mimic large bodies of water which attract birds and cause them to collide with solar panels. This project would be located on a flyway between Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge and Oasis Valley.
The project would need thousands of acre feet of water for construction.
Construction traffic would block access to popular parts of Death Valley National Park
Destroying the view like this will take tourism dollars away from the small community of Beatty, Nevada
The project will degrade and marginalize the experience of visiting Rhyolite, Nevada, one of the most popular ghost towns in the west.
|
|
In 2012, the BLM determined that this area is located in a "High Conflict Area" for solar energy. The National Park Service (NPS) has identified areas where utility-scale solar development poses a high potential for conflict with natural, cultural, and/or visual resources administered by the NPS. The blue areas on the map to the right show the Beatty Solar Project is located in a High Conflict Area.
|
|
|
^View from Death Valley National Park would be covered in solar panels.
|
|
^View of Desert Sunlight Solar Project next to Joshua Tree National Park, California |
|
|
|
Left: Western grebe found dead on the Desert Sunlight Solar Project. Information on solar avian mortality here.
|
|
|
|
Rhyolite is a ghost town in Nye County, Nevada, in the Bullfrog Hills, adjacent to the eastern boundary of Death Valley National Park. A gold rush began in 1905 as gold-containing quartzite veins were discovered in the surrounding hills.
Thousands of gold-miners, developers, and service providers flocked to the Bullfrog Mining District.
By 1907, the town of Rhyolite, Nevada had 4,000 residents and the school (ruins pictured above right) had nearly 200 kids. By 1924, Rhyolite declined but several of the buildings remained and it eventually became one of the most popular tourist destinations in the west. The Bureau of Land Management manages the Rhyolite Ghost Town as a "Historic Area" but the same agency is now considering allowing a 6,500 acre (10 square mile) solar project to engulf the entire south view of the Ghost Town and be built on the border of Death Valley National Park.
|
|
Goldwell Open Air Museum
Several open-air art exhibits can be viewed at the Goldwell Open Air Museum. The mission of the museum is to to "preserve, present, and encourage artistic exploration in and of the Amargosa Desert–an evocative landscape along the eastern edge of Death Valley National Park."
Albert Szukalski came to the Nevada desert in 1984 to create what is perhaps the most unique piece of his career. Originally designed to endure a mere two years, “The Last Supper” (above right) sculpture became the centerpiece of the museum. The Goldwell museum website tells how the open, undisturbed desert vistas were critical to Szukalksi's vision, and are actually part of the artwork:
"Albert was attracted to the Mojave Desert for many reasons, not the least of which was the Mojave’s resemblance to the deserts of the Middle East. To construct a modern day representation of Christ’s Last Supper, especially so close to Death Valley (where he originally wanted it sited), is eerily appropriate. Working essentially from Leonardo Da Vinci’s fresco of the Last Supper within the desert environment, Szukalski succeeded in blending the two disparate elements into a unified whole."
A huge solar project next to Rhyolite would be counter productive and ruin the core mission of the museum.
|
|
Send a letter by July 2nd to the Nevada State Clearinghouse |
|
The Nevada State Clearing House is accepting public comments on this project until July, 2nd, 2021. They will review all comments and forward them to all Nevada permitting agencies including the Nevada Department of Wildlife, the Public Utilities Commission and the Division of Environmental Protection. To comment, go on this LINK. Put your name and email on the link and below is a sample letter you can send. You do not need to live in Nevada to comment.
"To Whom it May Concern,
I would like to ask the Nevada State Agencies to reject the Beatty Energy Center proposal by Boulevard Associates, Nextera Energy LLC. The project would develop over 6,500 acres of public lands next to Death Valley National Park and the famous Rhyolite Ghost Town. The project would be built on the boundary of Death Valley National Park and surround the entrance of the Titus Canyon Road - one of the most popular recreation routes in Death Valley National Park. The project would destroy the open view from the famous Rhyolite Ghost Town and Goldwell Open Air Museum. The project would damage the visual resources and threaten the tourism economy of Beatty, Nevada. The project will create huge fugitive dust plumes and threaten public health. The project would be located between two important wetlands and threaten avian fauna with "lake effect" collisions. The project would be located in a region identified as "High Conflict" by the Bureau of Land Management because it is close to a National Park. The project is too controversial and should not be permitted.
Thank you,
(Your Name)"
|
|
^Plein air oil painting by Laura Cunningham, 2019, of the ruins of Rhyolite, looking towards Amargosa Valley in the distance exactly where the proposed Beatty Solar Energy Center is proposed. The mountains in the distance ar the Funeral Range inside Death Valley National Park and are designated Wilderness.
For more information and photos see our page here:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
