The Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council named East Lansing Community Solar Park as its 2019 Project of the Year at the 7th Annual Michigan Energy Innovators Gala. Golder provides environmental monitoring, oversight, and maintenance for the property that has been improved with Mid-Michigan’s first community solar park. The Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL), City of East Lansing, Pivot Energy, and Community Energy Options, LLC partnered on the project, giving local households and businesses an opportunity to access solar energy.
Burcham Park, a retired landfill, is the site of the Solar Park, a community solar array with 1,000 solar panels that will produce 430,000 kWh annually, enough to power around 60 homes. Golder was hired to provide environmental monitoring services, liaison with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and energy (EGLE), and perform major environmental duties for the project, including quarterly checks of methane levels and groundwater quality, and delivering the data to the EGLE. Golder also handles oversight and maintenance. The project includes bee-friendly pollinators, native grasses, educational signage and a sculpture by local artist Jim Cunningham.
“Golder is proud to have been a part of the development of the East Lansing Community Solar Park, and we support the economic, social and environmental benefits it brings to the local community,” said Golder’s Project Director Dave Regalbuto. “At Golder, our engineers and scientists work closely with clients to optimize the environmental performance of retired landfills. East Lansing Community Solar Park is a great example of sustainability in action, and we extend our congratulations to The Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL), City of East Lansing, Pivot Energy, and Community Energy Options.”
