The California Valley Solar Ranch (CSVR), a 250-megawatt SunPower Corp. photovoltaic project on the Carrizo Plain in California, was approved in May. And now the approval and SanLuis Obispo County’s environmental impact report are subject to a California Superior Court lawsuit.

Two conservation groups, North County Watch and Carrizo Commons as well as local farmer, Mike Strobridge, filed the suit challenging the report and the project’s impact on endangered species.

The project borders the Carrizo Plain National Monument and the site was selected for its proximity to high-power transmission lines. But it will impact roughly seven square miles of core habitat for the last remaining large populations of blunt-nosed leopard lizard, San Joaquin kit fox, and giant kangaroo rat, all federal and state endangered species, according to a Carrizo commons press release. In all, the plain has 34 endangered and threatened species and is the last intact part of San Joaquin Valley’s grassland ecosystem, it said.

“The risk is so great that species will become extinct as a result of the loss of habitat and impacts from the projects,” said North County Watch President Sue Harvey. “There are much better alternatives for siting these projects than to destroy this last great place.”

The project was originally undertaken by Ausra, but the company abandoned the project within a year of filing for permits, according to Harvey.

SunPower then took up the project.

“During numerous hearings by the [California Energy Commission] and in studies they had done, it was clear this was a biologically sensitive area,” she said. “Extensive scoping comments were submitted to the county that made it clear that this area was extremely sensitive and a problematic site for the project.”

Harvey isn’t against solar, however, and advocates for developing such projects on disturbed lands like California’s Westlands.

“The biological constraints to development of the site at the Westlands would be substantially lower,” she said. “Westlands is not core habitat for any listed species and would avoid most of the significant biological impacts of the proposed SunPower project on the Carrizo.”

In an April presentation, SunPower said the project will consist of 4,685 acres, 3,185 of which will be used for permanent on-site conservation acreage. The company also said that project is designed to eliminate or minimize loss of habitat, killing wildlife and optimize wildlife movement.

“CVSR, which was approved unanimously after very careful review and a total of six public hearings by the San Luis Obispo Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors, will help California achieve its renewable energy goals,” said SunPower spokesperson Ingrid Ekstrom.

However, SunPower’s policy is not to comment on pending litigation, she said.

“SunPower commends the very thorough review the County conducted with regard to our project permit and its CEQA [i.e., California Environmental Quality Act] compliance,” said Ekstrom.

Image courtesy of SunPower.