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Long Island Solar Project Back On Track After Judge Lifts Restraining Order

Courtesy of Pexels

On Long Island, construction of a controversial solar farm in Mastic has resumed after a state judge lifted a temporary restraining order on the site last week.

The Middle Island Solar Farm is controversial because they’d have to cut down trees to make way for the solar farm.

Richard Amper, executive director of the Pine Barrens Society, says, “True environmentalists do not advocate clearing forests for solar. Solar belongs on rooftops, in parking lots, on previously cleared land.”  

Amper says the pine barrens on the property help protect the few pockets of pure drinking water left on Long Island.

Michael Woloz, the spokesperson for Middle Island Solar Farm, says the project is the most environmentally friendly way to use the land, which is zoned for light industrial. “An owner could have come in and cleared most of the 100 acres, poured concrete along most of that land and built a light manufacturing facility.”

Last week, a state Supreme Court judge issued a restraining order to stop the solar farm from removing trees at the 100 acre site. The judge lifted the order a day later, and construction began Monday.  

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