Silfab to push ahead with controversial $150M Fort Mill solar cell site plans
Silfab Solar has no intention of giving up on its $150 million Fort Mill manufacturing facility or the property that’s stirred widespread complaints within the community.
The company wasn’t happy with a York County Board of Zoning Appeals decision last month that would limit Silfab production plans, chief operating officer Treff MacDonald said in an exclusive interview this week with The Herald. But Silfab will work through an approval process with the county as it has the past two years, he said.
“We 100% expect that project to deliver on time, which includes product out of this facility end of the year,” MacDonald said.
The Canadian solar panel maker worked for more than two years on plans to begin production at 7149 Logistics Lane. The company negotiated an economic incentive agreement with the county based on a $150 million investment and 800 new jobs.
A neighbor of the property appealed the county planning staff’s decision that solar panel manufacturing should be allowed in light zoning districts. Last month, in a surprise vote, the zoning board of appeals agreed with the neighbor.
An appeal period runs through June 29. State law allows for appeals through the circuit court system.
MacDonald declined to say whether Silfab filed an appeal yet, but said the company continues to review its options related to the zoning appeals board decision. An online courts record search Thursday didn’t show a filing.
Silfab said it wants to provide answers to some of the questions that led to public backlash of the project, starting with is it safe?
Is Silfab Solar safe?
Hundreds of people gathered at the appeals board hearing to protest solar manufacturing at the Silfab site. Stop Silfab Solar formed on Facebook, and social media buzzed with community concern.
Neighbors claimed that Silfab could use or emit dangerous chemicals. They brought up the neighboring property where the Fort Mill School District has two schools under construction.
Silfab had a zoning confirmation letter from York County planners in December 2022 showing it could operate in the light industrial site, MacDonald said.
The company sent a list of the materials it would use ahead of that decision. And Silfab complied with all environmental regulations from the state health department and county throughout the first half of last year as York County recruited the company.
Silfab said that the permitted chemicals it uses for manufacturing, such as hydrochloric and hydroflouric acid, are common in food processing, pharmaceuticals and agriculture. Potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide are in soaps, beauty products and food.
Silane, a chemical that residents online and at the appeals board hearing claimed is highly flammable and toxic, is used in semiconductor manufacturing that creates all sorts of household electronics, according to the company.
Several permitting agencies work to make sure proper chemicals are allowed in light industrial areas, MacDonald said.
“Not afraid to discuss (the chemicals),” he said. “I think they go through the appropriate amount of eyes and governance within both the county, the state and the federal levels to determine what’s right or wrong.”
The permitting also means chemicals and other plans are public record, MacDonald said.
And MacDonald said he’ll be responsible for 3,000 or more people between employees and their families. “I’m not going to put those people’s health and safety at risk, nor am I going to put it to our neighboring community,” he said.
What about the smokestacks?
Silfab takes issue with numerous posts online against the company’s Fort Mill operation depicting smokestacks emitting a dark cloud.
“We don’t have a smokestack,” MacDonald said. “We’re not emitting smoke. That’s... something that should not be associated with Silfab Solar.”
There would be a wet scrubber — a device that removes chemicals from exhaust fumes — that produces water vapor, MacDonald said. It would be on the north side of the building behind screening and won’t be visible above the building.
The smokestack issue, like the overall safety of the plant, is largely “fueled by misinformation,” he said.
What about the school site?
Environmental concern has been heightened by the location of new schools beside the Silfab site. Push-back against the manufacturer is similar to the uproar in 2019 over a 7 Eleven gas station built beside Doby’s Bridge Elementary School.
In that case, though, the gas station was built beside an existing school. Silfab had its approvals by late 2022. The school property beside it wasn’t rezoned from light industrial to allow for schools until last year.
And schools were part of the reason Silfab chose York County. The multi-state site selection process included competing incentive packages and whether communities were growing, and if there was availability of STEM education in the nearest school system.
“At the end of day we’re trying to fit into the community,” MacDonald said.
Would Silfab look elsewhere?
The extensive site selection process deemed the Logistics Lane site a good fit, so Silfab will keep its focus there. “We don’t have our eyes set on any alternate sites in the county, or in the town,” MacDonald said.
“There’s regular communication with the county on a number of items and matters,” he said. Silfab is confident based on those communications, and its recruitment process in the past few years, that it will be able to operate here.
Should York County welcome solar manufacturing?
The zoning appeals board decided solar manufacturing shouldn’t be allowed in light industrial, but instead determined that it belonged in heavy industrial zoning districts.
The difference of opinion between county planning staff and the appeals board stems from county code that doesn’t specifically name solar cell manufacturing in either district.
“We understand things are new for people,” MacDonald said. “We understand people are going to have questions about it.”
Solar panel manufacturing was prevalent in the country 20 or 30 years ago, he said, and Silfab is one of the few companies working to bring solar cell manufacturing back to the U.S. The company has more than 40 years of international experience, including more than a dozen years assembling products in North America.
The Silfab site would be overseen by highly-trained professionals to keep the plant and community safe, MacDonald said.
“It’s hard to be the new guy on the block,” he said. “At the end of the day we have 800 people that are going to be employed at this facility. We want them and their families to be welcomed in the community.”
