Solar case file
A full public case file on the Clermont Solar industrial project in Sergeant Township, McKean County, Pennsylvania, including project scope, permit records, named participants, township and agency awareness, inspection history, erosion and sediment control issues, runoff reporting, recorded land interests, and supporting public records.
⚖️ The project record now includes a Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board docket connected to Clermont Solar and DEP.
Overview
Clermont Solar is a utility-scale solar development in Sergeant Township, McKean County. Public records identify the project through permit PAD420008, later permit name-change correspondence tied to PAD420008A1, a recorded earth disturbance area of 681 acres, and receiving waters identified as Smith Run and Fivemile Run. The public record also shows an active construction inspection trail, repeated field discussions involving erosion and sediment controls, and later runoff concerns that drew broader public attention.
Permit
NPDES permit referenced on inspection reports and related correspondence.
Earth Disturbance
Disturbance area identified in project records.
Receiving Waters
Named in the permit record connected to the project.
Building Permit
Township building permit identifies a utility-scale PV solar industrial project.
Named participants
Energix Renewables and Clermont Solar, LLC appear in the permit and project file, with Zvi Tvizer listed in permit and building-related records.
Duffy, Inc. appears on the co-permittee acknowledgment and throughout the field inspection trail, including Rob Eaton as a recurring on-site representative.
GAI personnel appear throughout the inspection history, including Justin Calligaro and Ben Smith.
Sergeant Township, McKean County Planning, McKean County Conservation District, DEP, and related staff appear throughout the public record tied to the project.
Timeline
This chronology reflects permits, township and county records, inspection reports, runoff reporting, recorded land interests, and the Environmental Hearing Board docket tied to Clermont Solar.
Inspection record
Read as a sequence rather than isolated reports, the inspection record shows more than general progress. It shows repeated documented field conditions involving control measures, basin behavior, trenching impacts, muddy runoff paths, erosion, and sediment movement during active construction.
The site record documents clearing, stump removal, sediment ponds, access roads, stream crossings, poles, panel installation, inverters, electrical stations, and trenching for wire and grounding systems.
Inspection notes and photo reports document sediment spilling over silt sock, erosion at basin 15, shifted risers, sediment collecting in channels, muddy water entering drainage features, and repeated discussion of corrective approaches.
Later inspections note trenching in most areas, muddy spots from equipment movement, muddy water entering channels, sediment leaving basin 15 in heavy flow, and the need to monitor whether stabilization measures held.
Runoff & waterways
Public reporting in March 2026 states that a citizen observed major runoff in Smith Run heading toward East Branch Lake. That reporting states that McKean County Conservation District inspected the site, DEP was notified, and Energix attributed the issue to winter conditions, snowmelt, and frozen ground. The broader public file matters because earlier inspection records had already documented recurring field issues involving sediment control measures, basin behavior, trenching-related impacts, and runoff pathways.
Smith Run and Fivemile Run appear in the permit record, with Smith Run also central to the later runoff reporting.
Public reporting tied observed runoff movement toward East Branch Lake.
The public record places MCCD and DEP in the response chain after runoff concerns were raised.
The runoff issue became a public symbol of the broader risks residents had already associated with the project.
Legal action
The public case file now includes a Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board docket page for Clermont Solar and DEP. This adds a formal legal-record component to the project’s public record and gives residents, reporters, and officials a direct place to monitor filings, orders, and docket activity.
Use the official EHB docket page to review available filings and status information directly from the state docket system. This site summarizes the public-interest importance of the docket but does not replace the official record.
View Full EHB DocketRecorded land interests
The public record shows Clermont Solar was not only advancing through permits and construction. Recorder of Deeds filings also show a broader project structure involving recorded property interests, surface rights arrangements, fixture filings, mortgage security, and project financing tied to the industrial solar development.
A recorded UCC financing statement lists Clermont Solar, LLC as debtor and Wilmington Trust, National Association, as collateral agent. The filing states that collateral includes all assets of the debtor, including goods that are or become fixtures on the described real estate, together with proceeds and products.
A recorded surface rights grant, waiver and covenant between Titus Energy, LLC and Clermont Solar LLC addresses conflicts between mineral rights and the project’s planned surface use. The agreement includes non-entry, waiver, covenant, and surface access provisions connected to the project footprint.
A recorded open-end fee and leasehold mortgage, assignment of leases and rents, security agreement, and fixture filing ties Clermont Solar, LLC to Wilmington Trust, National Association and states the mortgage secures future advances with a maximum principal indebtedness of $256,906,474.92.
The recorded filings connect Clermont Solar to multiple tax map IDs and recorded deeds in Sergeant Township, showing that the project was anchored in formal real-estate and collateral filings, not just permit paperwork.
The mortgage and UCC filings show the project’s real property, improvements, fixtures, contracts, and related rights were part of a broader secured financing structure tied to the industrial solar development.
The surface-rights agreement shows that subsurface and mineral-rights issues had to be addressed in the land record as part of the project’s buildout and long-term use of the site.
These are recorded county instruments that help explain how Clermont Solar was structured on paper: property, financing, collateral, access, and legal control.
Evidence gallery
This section houses runoff photographs, inspection photo reports, field images, and related visual exhibits tied to Clermont Solar and the site conditions documented during construction.
Observed sediment-laden flow tied to the public runoff controversy.
Field image associated with erosion and sediment control conditions during active construction.
Field image reflecting basin behavior, sedimentation, outlet conditions, or heavy-flow effects.
Documents & proof
This document section organizes permit materials, building records, planning correspondence, inspection reports, photo reports, runoff exhibits, land records, the EHB docket link, and other source material tied to the Clermont Solar project.
Permit materials, township building permit records, co-permittee forms, and local review documents.
E&S and PCSM plans, revised layouts, drainage features, basins, wetlands, and site configuration records.
Construction inspection records and photo reports documenting field conditions through active buildout.
Runoff photos, correspondence, media reporting, EHB docket material, and public-interest supporting exhibits.
Case file summary
Clermont Solar is not just a proposal on paper. It is a project with a documented public record: permit materials, building records, township and county correspondence, named project participants, co-permittee and contractor involvement, repeated inspections during active construction, recorded field conditions involving erosion and sediment controls, recorded land and financing instruments, an EHB docket link, and a runoff controversy that brought broader attention to what was happening on the ground.
The project record identifies major earth disturbance, utility-scale solar development, grading, drainage features, trenching, and extensive site buildout.
The public file places Sergeant Township, county staff, MCCD, DEP, and project participants in the documented chain surrounding the project.
The site was inspected repeatedly, creating a long paper trail of progress, controls, recurring field conditions, and stabilization efforts.
This page exists to preserve the documented record in one place for residents, officials, media, and anyone reviewing what Clermont Solar has meant on the ground in McKean County.
Disclaimer
This page is a public-interest case file compiled from public records, agency documents, inspection reports, permit records, right-to-know responses, publicly available maps, publicly reported media coverage, docket references, and other source material believed to be authentic at the time of publication. It is presented for public education, commentary, and review of matters affecting McKean County.
Protect McKean County Wilds does not claim to adjudicate liability or make final legal determinations. Statements on this page are presented as summaries, quotations, or characterizations of underlying source material. Readers are encouraged to review the original records and draw their own conclusions.
If any person or entity believes a document is inauthentic, materially incomplete, misidentified, or quoted inaccurately, they may request review and correction by identifying the specific document, statement, and basis for the requested correction.
All company names, agency names, project names, and individual names appearing on this page are used solely to identify matters appearing in public records or public reporting related to the Clermont Solar project and associated governmental review.
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