LANCASTER TWP — The last thing alternative energy should create is unnecessary waste, and on Monday, March 18 township supervisors adopted an ordinance to eliminate waste from solar-powered equipment.

“It is absolutely designed to protect the township,” said Mary Hess, township manager. “There has been an issue across the country where these large solar fields have been installed and then just left to rot.”

The board unanimously adopted an ordinance aimed at regulating alternative-energy businesses established in the township. The new ordinance also sets limitations to where and how solar energy systems can be placed as well as requiring a public hearing to allow residents the opportunity to comment on proposed installations.

Hess said these regulations are a precaution for the township to try to avoid any future problems.

The government is giving solar power companies a lot of funds to build these solar arrays and when those businesses fold, they leave their equipment, forcing local municipalities to clean them up using taxpayer funds, Hess said.

The new law would require business owners to remove the equipment at their cost within six months.

Hess said this ordinance does not affect residents who choose to install solar panels on their homes.

“That’s not what’s this about, this doesn’t affect people who want to install solar panels on their homes” Hess said. “This is for the large solar ranches. This is to give us a little more protection.”

The Southwestern Butler Council of Governments, an intergovernmental group that partners on regional projects, will come together next week to discuss updating its emergency management policy and appoint a new emergency management coordinator

Council members and government officials from Lancaster will meet with government leadership from Jackson Township, Zelienople and Harmony to update the region’s emergency policy.

The municipalities are trying to avoid a situation similar to the train derailment that occurred on the eastern border of Ohio last year, Hess said.

“It’s a huge concern when you consider what happened in Ohio recently,” Hess said. “I found in our files the 1996 plan, but it needs to be updated and it needs to happen immediately.”

Hess said the meeting would focus on appointing an emergency management coordinator and putting updated policies into place in case of an emergency.

“We need to update the plans to make sure everyone is safe,” Hess said. “We also need someone to manage (the plan) and manage it well.”