May 13, 2010 10:26 AM PDT

[Judi Lynn]

May 13, 2010 10:26 AM PDT
New Mexico puts old mine to solar use

Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico in conjunction with Chevron is breaking ground Thursday on a 1-megawatt solar farm on land owned by Chevron Mining near Questa, N.M.

The concentrator photovoltaic systems (CPVs) are being provided by Concentrix Solar. The solar farm, which was originally announced in February, will provide power to the Kit Carson Electric Cooperative through a power purchase agreement it signed with Chevron. Kit Carson is an electricity cooperative that supplies power to rural New Mexico communities in Taos, Colfax, and Rio Arriba counties. The solar farm is scheduled to be up and running by the end of 2010.

But this is not the typical corporate-sponsored solar project. The solar farm actually represents a classic tale of mining, pollution, and the next generation's attempt to clean up for past sins, only with an added green tech twist. The solar farm project is actually the result of decades of complaints, investigations, community meetings, and lawsuits concerning serious water and soil pollution from the mine, according to The Taos News.

The mine, a significant source of employment for the area since the 1920s, is currently owned by Chevron Mining, a subsidiary of Chevron. Chevron inherited the mine in 2005 after a merger with Unocal, which already owned Molycorp, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

More:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20004897-54.html