Overview

Community members have submitted a formal response to Riverstone Solar’s September 16, 2025 letter, documenting a pattern of violations of the project’s Special Use Permit (SUP) conditions and environmental commitments. The response calls for immediate enforcement action to protect Buckingham County’s natural resources and uphold the conditions that made the project conditionally acceptable.

Key Violations Documented

Environmental Buffer Destruction (Conditions 3 & 13)

• SUP Condition 13 requires preservation of 50-foot vegetated buffers along streams and wetlands
• Riverstone has disturbed these protected buffers, violating both the SUP and its DEQ Permit by Rule
• Approved construction plans show systematic buffer violations across the entire project site
• With only 9 of over 100+ planned sediment basins built, the scale of future violations will be massive unless corrected immediately

Broken Public Commitments

At the February 2022 public hearing, Riverstone’s representative explicitly promised to maintain a 50-foot vegetated buffer along streams and wetlands as a “vegetated filter” for water quality protection. The company now abandons these promises, destroying the very buffers they committed to preserve.

Missing Required Infrastructure (Condition 21b)

Required wash stations are absent from major project entrances, violating explicit SUP requirements designed to prevent dirt and debris from leaving the project area.

Prohibited Road Usage (Condition 28)

Construction traffic has used roads specifically prohibited to protect residents and local infrastructure, despite clear restrictions in the SUP.

Property Line Buffer Removal

Why Immediate Action Is Critical

Once natural buffers are destroyed, they cannot be restored. The mature trees, established root systems, and natural soil profiles protecting Buckingham’s streams and wetlands represent decades of growth. When removed:

• Saplings take years to establish basic root systems
• Small trees require decades to provide meaningful environmental protection
• Original topography and soil structure cannot be replicated
• Natural water filtration and erosion control are permanently compromised

Every day of delay allows more irreversible environmental damage.

Legal Questions Requiring Resolution

Actions Requested

The community respectfully urges the Board of Supervisors to:

1. Issue a Stop Work Order suspending all construction activities immediately
2. Issue Notices of Violation for SUP Conditions 3, 13, 21(b), and 28
3. Require immediate correction of all buffer encroachments
4. Demand corrected construction plans that eliminate all buffer violations before work resumes
5. Obtain independent legal review of the SUP extension question

The Bottom Line

The SUP was never intended as a blank check. Its conditions were specifically designed to protect streams, wetlands, public roads, and neighboring landowners. These safeguards were the price of approval. If those conditions are disregarded, the fundamental basis of the SUP collapses, and the credibility of all SUP approvals in Buckingham County is undermined.

The County’s regulatory credibility, environmental protection, and community trust all depend on immediate, decisive enforcement action