Jury Awards $135M In Damages In Solar Project Pollution Case

A federal jury has awarded a couple in Southwest Georgia $135 million in damages after sediment pollution spilled onto their property from a solar electricity project built nearby.

The jury found Silicon Ranch, a Nashville-based solar power developer, and its contractor, Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives, Inc. (IEA), guilty of negligence and acting with ‘specific intent to cause harm’ in constructing the 100-megawatt solar facility in Stewart County, south of Columbus.

The solar project, named the Lumpkin Solar Facility, was built in 2021 through a partnership between Silicon Ranch and Walton Electric Membership Corp.

The plaintiffs in the case, Shaun and Amie Harris, who reside on a 1,630-acre property downstream from the solar arrays, were awarded the damages. Their property, which includes a 21-acre lake, is managed as a wildlife and fishing refuge.

According to the lawsuit, the defendants cleared vegetation and mass-graded nearly 1,000 acres of land uphill from the Harrises without installing adequate erosion controls around the project.

The Harris’ lake was turned into a mud hole, and wetlands were inundated with silt and sediment when it rained.

The jury granted compensatory damages of $10.5 million, along with punitive awards of $125 million against Silicon Ranch, IEA, and its subsidiary, IEA Constructors, LLC. Silicon Ranch was assigned $25 million in punitive damages, while IEA and IEA Constructors were assigned $50 million each.