Plainfield Conservation Commission Continues Solar Battery Hearing, Seeks Spring Soil Data

PLAINFIELD -- January 28, 2026, Plainfield Conservation Commission declines to close hearing on a 17-acre solar and battery storage project over soil and sediment concerns. The commission continued the public hearing at its January 28 meeting after members said they were not satisfied with a December soil assessment by geoenvironmental firm GZA, which dug test pits to seven to nine feet and found no groundwater but acknowledged in written comments that spring conditions could reveal a perched water table near the wetland. Commission members, including the chair, rejected the applicant's argument that a spring recheck could be handled as a condition of approval, saying they want the data in hand before issuing any Order of Conditions. The applicant's team, represented by engineer Brendan and business development lead Mike Conway, had presented revised plans reducing the buffer zone impact by roughly one and a half acres and relocating the battery storage area further from wetland resources. A neighboring farmer with four decades of experience on the same soil types challenged GZA's finding of only trace silt, and an abutter raised safety concerns about proposed tree clearing before the March 31 northern long-eared bat deadline, noting her horses are on an icy pasture.