Save Van Zandt County

Welcome

Our goal is to protect Van Zandt County's agriculturally productive land from being stripped and destroyed by Big Solar energy companies looking to make a quick buck from your tax dollars. Then leaving county taxpayers with the mess to clean up.

These companies will lock up our land for 20-30 years with hundreds of thousands of damaging PV solar panels that contain heavy metals and that only work efficiently part time: during sunny weather in daytime hours.

Each project is built under a shell company so that if the project fails, the parent company can shut down the shell company and leave Van Zandt County residents with millions of dollars in cleanup. They put up zero dollars to cover damage repair or cleanup after the project is finished. Leasing land owners and ultimately county residents end up footing the bill, while these foreign companies have taken our tax dollars and moved on.

You can find information on this site, on Facebook under "Save Van Zandt County".

Industrial Wind and Solar is NOT environmentally friendly and creates more pollution than they claim to stop.

Important Research and Documentation

We will continue to add articles, but find more on our Facebook Group: Save Van Zandt County

Stop Industrial Solar Projects

What is at stake

These foreign-based companies come into rural areas and create shell companies to protect themselves in the event of failure. Each project plans to strip hundreds of acres of Van Zandt county land and install between hundreds of thousands of solar panels using federal tax credits: your tax dollars. Then, they want to sell the overpriced electricity to Oncor and cause your electricity prices to rise. Green agricultural land is destroyed. Panels made with harmful chemicals and metals mined primarily in China are then installed.

Each project is surrounded by chain link fences and barbed wire or razor wire. If a fire breaks out, rural fire departments are not equipped to put out the fire - putting additional land at risk.

The sound from the inverters is distressing to cattle and wildlife.

All under the guise of "being green"

Won't this help the environment?

Actually, the opposite will happen. The land will be stripped, tens of thousands of posts will be pile driven into the ground, and solar panels containing cadmium sulfide and other chemicals will be installed. No one knows the actual lifespan for these panels and the solar power plant itself. They can only estimate it. That's why the land lease is for approximately 20-30 years with options to continue beyond that time. Questions remain about what chemicals are used to keep the land cleared, how the heavy metals from damaged panels will be contained and what happens to the plant after it has reached its end of life.

The stripped land, full of panels and surrounded by fencing will harm all the wildlife in the area including: bald eagles, deer, owls, hawks, and coyotes. Downstream and ground absorbed pollution will harm surrounding cattle and crops.

How do we protect our county?

This is a solar plant being built. Imagine seeing almost half a million of these panels every day as you drive down your county roads. Then, wondering what will happen to your land and livestock in the area. Contact your County Commissioners and ask them to oppose these projects and protect the citizens of Van Zandt County. Then ask your local school boards to vote against these dangerous projects.
Here is how to contact your county officials.

There is no guarantee of an adequate tax return to the county, safety of the surrounding property, or cleanup after the plant expires or is damaged. The only guarantee is that these foreign companies behind these projects will make a big profit at the expense of Van Zandt County residents.