A public hearing will be held Tuesday Kidder Township by the Department of Environmental Protection concerning the planned Mora Solar project.

The hearing will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. at Jim Thorpe High School, #1 Olympian Way, Jim Thorpe.

Environmental organizations and concerned citizens will be in attendance to speak against construction of a solar farm planned for location off Moseywood Road in Kidder Township.

The solar development will require the clear-cutting of 390 acres of forest that has not been touched since 1967. The site is steeply sloped with 97 high-quality wetlands and three cold-water fisheries and streams including Shingle Run, Black Creek, and Fourth Run. The site is near the Moseywood Girl Scout Camp and is surrounded by open space.

Linda Christman, president of Save Carbon County, which is an environmental, nonprofit organization focusing on the environment of Carbon County, said, “Our organization has never opposed a solar project, because we recognize the need for clean, cheap, renewable energy. However, we find that we cannot support this project. It is too destructive to the Lehigh River watershed and our streams.”

The hearing’s purpose is to receive comments about the project’s National Pollution Discharge Elimination System. These systems are designed to prevent pollution and eliminate runoff from non-pervious surfaces and erosion damage caused by rainwater.

Phyllis Spencer, a local resident, pointed out that this project will impact three different watersheds and that DEP has a statutory duty to protect the waters of the state from degradation and pollution. She also emphasized that Pennsylvania’s own recommendations for siting solar projects encourages developers to prioritize development on previously disturbed land and minimize impacts to forests and wetlands.

Several environmental organizations will be speaking against the massive project.