Doubt About Energy Facility
A building containing lithium batteries, which National Grid and PSEG want to put up in Montauk, was discussed during a public hearing before the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals on Tuesday night. The facility, which would store power drawn from the grid when demand is low and release it back at peak hours, is planned for a half-acre site on North Shore Road, which connects Industrial Road and Navy Road. But three setback variances would be necessary for construction, and opposition is evident. If the Z.B.A. grants the variances, a public hearing before the town’s planning board would follow on Aug. 9.
Eric Schantz, a senior planner, told the board that if the variances were granted, the building would on average be slightly under 50 percent closer to the property lines than the town code requires. The triangular parcel is bordered by the Long Island Rail Road tracks, North Shore Road, and a property recently purchased by PSEG, to which the Long Island Power Authority-PSEG substation now at Fort Pond would be moved.
Ross Groffman, executive director of NextEra Energy Resources, a company partnering with National Grid and PSEG, addressed the board, as did Ryan McMorrow, an engineering manager with the firm, who said the batteries are safe and that numerous steps would be taken to ensure that the system is not hazardous. Neighbors were not sanguine. Michael Avallone, who has a small house on Navy Road on the other side of the tracks, said he was speaking for himself and at least three neighbors. “There is chronic flooding in the area. How are they going to react to saltwater?” he asked. Flooding occurs in heavy rains, it was noted. An alternative site, the recycling center off Montauk Highway in Montauk, was mentioned at the hearing, though PSEG has apparently rejected it.
“We are putting a square peg in a round hole here,” said Jim Grimes, who owns Fort Pond Native Plants and several nearby properties. “The variances are excessive and incompatible with the area.” Mr. Grimes said the center of the site was landfill and wondered if more fill would be needed. He asked about the height of the proposed structure and the height of the site itself.
Mr. McMorrow responded to these concerns, as well as to other speakers who expressed fear of explosion. “There are a lot of misconceptions,” he said. Unlike the infamous lithium ion Samsung batteries that had to be recalled after they started catching fire, the batteries to be used at the proposed site are pure lithium, he said. “It is not a hazard.”
David Lys, a board member, suggested the members should perhaps see a rendering of the proposed structure as it relates to neighboring sites. In the end, however, the board agreed to close the hearing and the record.
“There will be a lot more neighbors at the next meeting,” Mr. Avallone said