Report: State of New Jersey offers to buy Six Flags’ proposed solar site

State environmental officials have reportedly offered to buy the site where a New Jersey theme park plans to cut nearly 19,000 trees to build a 90-acre solar farm.

The Asbury Park Press says the Department of Environmental Protection floated the sale idea in a letter it sent Friday to Six Flags Entertainment Corp., in which it expressed its opposition to the proposal.

But the newspaper did not say if a sales price has been discussed, and a company spokeswoman could not be reached for comment on Saturday.

Six Flags has said the facility would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 24 times what the undisturbed forest is capable of removing on its own. It has also pledged to replant nearly 26,000 trees.

Environmental groups have filed suit over the plan. The groups claim Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson is violating the state’s municipal land use law. They say the plan would be harmful to the Barnegat Bay watershed.

The groups say the amusement park’s parking lot and buildings would be a more appropriate location for a solar farm.

In a statement, Janet Tauro of Clean Water Action said it’s illogical to destroy the forest to combat climate change.