On Wednesday, Dec. 3, the Plainfield Planning Board voted to approve New Leaf Energy’s application for a special permit for a 23-acre industrial solar farm, filed on behalf of my neighbor. The proposal involves clear cutting approximately 30 acres of forest. And, despite the fact that my two-acre property is dwarfed by my neighbor’s 67-acre property, the solar farm is situated so that it runs right along my property lines. The original proposal involved clearing up to my property line, approximately 15 feet from the back of my horse pasture and riding ring, and placing the panels 50 feet from that property line.

While infuriating and feeling unquestionably invasive to me, I believe residents of the Hilltowns and beyond need to be aware of the dominating and rapid spread of solar farms because of the significant risks they pose.

How solar is shaping the Hilltowns

The Hilltowns are facing a surge of industrial solar plant proposals, including battery energy storage system (BESS) components. A proposal for a BESS-only facility, a large-scale installation of tractor trailer-sized batteries, is in progress for Plainfield, a quarter mile from my home.

It’s a trend that’s spurred on by Massachusetts law. According to Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 40A Section 3, “No zoning ordinance or by-law shall prohibit or unreasonably regulate the installation of solar energy systems or the building of structures that facilitate the collection of solar energy, except where necessary to protect the public health, safety or welfare.”

Small towns appear to be afraid to deny industrial solar projects; after denials, some developers sue the towns and win. Small towns don’t have the budget for such lawsuits.

The risks everyone should know about

Solar farms carry risks the Hilltowns cannot ignore. Solar panels are paired with BESS, lithium-ion batteries that are placed alongside the panels to store the energy generated. These batteries can experience thermal runaway, a chain reaction in which the battery overheats and can ignite or explode.

Plainfield, like many other Hilltowns, has a volunteer fire department. We rely on mutual aid from surrounding towns for larger fires, and we have no municipal water supply. During the Dec. 3 meeting, Plainfield Fire Chief Rob Shearer explained that in the case of a battery fire, best practice is to not attempt to put out the fire itself, which requires copious amounts of water; instead, firefighters wet down the surrounding area to prevent the fire from spreading. Since these batteries can burn for days, the response could require extensive manpower and water, neither of which the Hilltowns have.

Shearer disclosed that he believed Plainfield would run out of manpower before we ran out of water. The Planning Board appeared to see this as an acceptable risk.

These batteries often contain toxic metals, and those metals can be released into the air and groundwater if those batteries are damaged or catch fire. After the Moss Landing BESS fire in January 2025, a marine biologist and his colleagues found that about 55,000 pounds of heavy metals were deposited across about half a square mile of wetland in the area. Those 55,000 pounds of heavy metals reflect just 2% of what was released during that disaster. In a town entirely reliant on wells, like Plainfield, such a disaster could permanently contaminate the aquifer and leave properties uninhabitable and worthless.

Any sort of environmental disaster in the Hilltowns could affect many other towns. Plainfield is the headwaters of the Westfield and Deerfield Rivers, and the Worthington watershed is part of the Westfield River watershed. The Blandford watershed encompasses the Long Pond Reservoir and connects to the Cobble Mountain Reservoir for Springfield; the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission, which supplies water to 250,000 customers in Springfield, Ludlow, Agawam, East Longmeadow, and Longmeadow wrote a letter voicing concern about the potential the proposed Blandford BESS project posed to water safety for these communities.

The Hilltowns are failing

The Plainfield Planning Board’s approval of the proposal disregards the best practices presented by organizations like Responsible Solar Massachusetts. I feel that the Planning Board failed us by not implementing basic conditions to help protect residents, like requiring air quality testing during the clear cutting and construction phases.

This argument isn’t against solar farms. I and most other Plainfield residents stated that we support solar farms when placed on top of commercial buildings, over parking lots, over landfills, and on other brownfield sites. But we oppose the clear cutting of forest to create these solar farms, especially when they jeopardize the water safety for not only our towns, but for towns downstream.

I don’t know what the answer to this issue looks like, but I believe these solar farms will reshape the area while threatening our safety. Towns must rally and work together to stop this movement before it’s too late.

Paige Cerulli lives in Plainfield.