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State officials came back with a list. For the third straight year, Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) accused the Buckingham II Solar project of violating state law. And for the third straight year, the project, owned by Energix Renewables, will face more than $100,000 in fines as a result. 

And to be clear, the violations at the Buckingham County site are just part of a larger problem. In total, DEQ officials found 75 violations of state law at sites Energix owns in Buckingham, Henry, Sussex and Wythe counties, officials said in a May report. The Buckingham property, located at 23 Highrock Road, has been cited for multiple violations over the last few years. The facility sits on about 470 acres, which are split into five parcels near Route 60, and generates 20 megawatts (MW) of electricity.

But over the last few years, DEQ officials have found problems like not stabilizing the slopes of stormwater basins in the area, allowing erosion between solar panels and discharging sediment, which covered the on-site road in places. These past violations also covered some administrative tasks, like not performing required inspections and not having all controls in compliance.

More of the same for Energix

Over the last year, DEQ officials say they saw several of the same issues popping up. This was during a period of visits from May 2023 to December 2023. Now when we talk about stormwater basins, we mean exactly that. A basin created to collect, store and manage stormwater runoff. The goal here is to prevent flooding and erosion by slowing down the flow of stormwater. So with that being said, in the May and July inspections, DEQ officials found at least one stormwater basin wasn’t exactly stable.

They came back to check in December and found erosion near four of the basins and at least one basin was still unstable. The inspections also found several trash racks needed to be cleaned. A trash rack for stormwater is a steel component that catches floating debris to stop it from entering stormwater and wastewater systems. But in essence, at least five trash racks were backed up or needed to be cleaned out when the inspectors came through. 

Some needed vegetation and silt removed. Others just had a large amount of woody debris, branches and similar things. Inspectors reported that one channel “had downed trees in it that required removal” to avoid blockage. 

Problems fixed

The Herald reached out to Energix several times over a two-week period and had not heard back from them by presstime. What the DEQ report shows is that every problem that had been noted at the facility was corrected by Jan. 3, 2024, with photos sent by Energix officials to prove it had been done. 

Still, as a result of the multiple violations at different locations, Energix was fined $158,000. Adding this to the previous fines, here in Buckingham and in other parts of Virginia, Energix has been charged an estimated $350,000 for its Virginia violations in three years.