The City of Enid’s decision to vote on a recommendation regarding the Skeleton Creek Solar Farm has led to residents speaking out against the movement.
The residents of Enid voiced displeasure with the project since most of the public commentators claimed that the farm would be volatile and impossible to extinguish if a fire were to break out.
One resident, Teresa Gainer, spoke against the solar project.
“Me and my husband…live in the zone,” Gainer said. “I will live right next to the solar field…We have to worry night and day about the things that I am going to call the solar invasion. Mostly, we worry about our health. How will we be affected by the sound and the glare? Will it contaminate our well? Will it dry up our aquifer? Will there be tremendous amounts of runoff and flood our property? Will we be able to garden or even go outside?”
Another resident, Suzanne Hunter, also spoke against the solar project and defended her residency of 44 years near the zone.
“I live at Covered Wagon Trail, which is in the zone; and I’ve been there 44 years,” Hunter said. “This project threatens not just us in the zone, but the lives of all the residents in the Enid area when the toxic poisonous smoke poured from an explosion of the titanium battery. The largest (solar farm) in the United States puts all of our lives at risk as it (fire) is carried by the Oklahoma winds.”
Finally, Doug Glenn also voiced his concern for the solar farm and how it will impact Vance Air Force Base pilots.
“I oppose putting the solar farm in the flight path for Vance Air Force Base,” Glenn said. “That is an obstacle that could cause hesitation to eject which is the main cause of pilots getting killed in a plane crash…Why would we want to subject our student pilots to this danger?”
The Skeleton Creek Solar Farm proposed will generate 250 megawatts of solar energy and 252 megawatts of battery storage. The project will encompass about 2,500 acres and construction of the farm is scheduled to begin at the end of 2025.
