Plans for solar panel field in Illinois hit financial issues

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) — A plan to create a solar panel field on an EPA Superfund site that was contaminated by aluminum production waste has run into financing difficulty.

The Environmental Protection Agency says the 400-acre (162-hectare) site was used by Alcoa until the late 1950s as a place to dispose of waste from its aluminum production plant.

Efforts to clean the EPA Superfund site ramped up in 2014 after Brightfields Development expressed interest in building a $65 million solar field there, the Belleville News-Democrat reported. The $19.5 million cleanup was completed in 2016, according to Alcoa.

Mike Singer is the project manager for Brightfields Development, a Massachusetts-based solar company. He said the project was four years in the works, but financing complications have prevented it from moving forward.

Read more: http://www.nwitimes.com/news/state-and-regional/illinois/plans-for-solar-panel-field-in-illinois-hit-financial-issues/article_45d9039c-c038-5344-a9ad-6fe8de3a6f84.html