Worthington Planning Board Hires Reviewer, Requests DEP Look at Ridge Road Solar Farm

WORTHINGTON — January 13, 2026 — Worthington Planning Board takes two unanimous votes to intensify scrutiny of a proposed large-scale agrivoltaic solar project at 190 Ridge Road. The board voted by roll call to hire the engineering firm Perret as an independent technical reviewer and separately directed the town's Board of Health to initiate a review by the state Department of Environmental Protection, with particular attention to risks to public water supplies, private wells, and septic systems near the site. A resident environmental consultant urged the board to press the applicant on lithium-ion battery fire hazards, noting the site's distance from adequate emergency water and fire response resources, and suggested sodium-ion battery technology — potentially viable within three to five years — as a safer alternative. The applicant's own geotechnical study, expected this spring, will determine how deeply solar panel support poles are driven into the ground, a question the board said it wants DEP to evaluate as well.