Lawsuit seeking to save 15K trees from solar farm dismissed

A lawsuit seeking to block a Six Flags theme park in New Jersey from cutting down nearly 15,000 trees to make way for a solar farm to power the park has been dismissed.

A Superior Court judge said in a ruling Monday that the local governing boards in deciding to approve the project proposed by Six Flags Great Adventure and KDC Solar could weigh the environmental advantage of renewable solar energy against other environmental impacts.

Environmentalists said the project will have a devastating effect on the environment and they opposed the decision by the Jackson Township committee and planning board to allow the work to go forward. They argued in the lawsuit that the project isn't consistent with the township's master plan.

"This project is a black eye for clean energy," Sierra Club director Jeff Tittel said in a statement. "Six Flags can't have green energy by destroying a forest."

Project officials say the 21.9-megawatt facility will provide all the park's electrical needs and will be the largest in New Jersey. It is expected to result in a net reduction in carbon emissions of about 216,000 tons over a 15-year period.