A solar farm built on the former site of a landfill in Brooklyn, Ohio, is expanding. Meanwhile, nearby Cleveland is facing setbacks with its Harvard Road Landfill solar project, according to an article on cleveland.com.

Cleveland will no longer participate in the Harvard Road Landfill project. Cleveland and Cuyahoga County disagreed on the subagreement, which defines how the project will be hooked into Cleveland Public Power’s electric grid, according to the article. The contractual relationship for the power that would have been generated from the solar farm site, which is stalled in negotiations, according to a Dec. 4 meeting of the Cleveland City Council’s Utilities Committee.

Both projects are part of a Biden administration-era $129 million Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant to Cuyahoga County.

The Brooklyn solar farm, the first in the state built on a former landfill site, began generating electricity in 2018. It currently generates nearly 4 megawatts (MW). The federal grant is funding its expansion, adding more than 12,000 solar panels, which will produce an additional 6.5 MW of electricity. Cuyahoga County will then sell the generated electricity at a reduced rate to Cleveland Public Power, according to the article.

The EPA grant is expected to cover 60% of the $14.5 million second phase of the project. Inflation Reduction Act tax credits will cover the remaining $5.8 million.

The proposed site for the Harvard Road Landfill project is located in portions of three cities: Cleveland, Cuyahoga Heights and Garfield Heights.

At the Dec. 4 meeting, Council Member Brian Kazy (Ward 16) said the Department of Health, Department of Building and Housing and Office of Sustainability could do more to proactively clean up the site. Some residents in Slavic Village have methane meters in their homes due to the landfill, said Council Member Kevin L. Bishop (Ward 2). While the meeting ended without a resolution, the committee plans to reconvene and discuss the issue further.

Cuyahoga County may look into developing the landfill’s southern portion, in Garfield Heights, which it expects can generate at least 2 MW of solar power. The EPA grant might also be used to construct a solar farm on former industrial property near Painesville, Ohio; the power generated would be used for decommissioning a coal-fired municipal power plant, according to the cleveland.com article.