Photo courtesy of Hongseong Fire Station in Korea

One, Key Capture Energy of Albany, NY,  is on Pulaski Road west of Town Line Road, in Huntington, near residences. It is near a Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) substation, so interconnection is not a problem.  But, the issues are still very concerning:

1. Lithium ion battery storage units unexpectedly and spontaneously explode and catch fire.  This fire is self-fueling and unextinguishable. Fatal, toxic clouds of poisons are emitted and fire companies need sealed oxygen breathing apparatus to fight the fires.  Residential areas near the fire must be evacuated. Battery materials include nickel, graphite, lithium, aluminum, copper, steel, iron, manganese, cobalt, all of which poison the land and drinking water below.
2. The site is over an Article 7 Deep Recharge Aquifer Protection Zone. That means this is a designated area where our drinking water is recharged and there must not be hazardous materials present to contaminate our water supply. Lithium poisonous runoff from a destructive battery storage fire goes into the ground to endanger our drinking water.
3. Gov. Hochul, recognizing this problem, has convened a panel to address the battery storage fire problem. There have been 3 battery storage fires in New York State and elsewhere,  too.
4. The site is near the Huntington Landfill laced with methane, the Iroquois Natural Gas Pipeline and the animal shelter.
5. With China, Russia, India and others opening many reliable, cost-effective and clean fossil-fueled and nuclear generators, all our efforts of renewable generation, with their negatives of high cost, unreliability, rare earth needs from child labor and hostile countries, intermittency, huge land and sea bed needs, destruction of sea life and flying birds like eagles, terns, bats and more, all our efforts of destroying our current, reliable generation are wasted and weaken us.

This is a revenue-generating plan that wants to cash in on taxpayer subsidies, ignores the life-or-death safety concerns of the nearby residents, potentially poisoning our sole source of drinking water, and endangers fire fighters.  It is a band aid for faulty, unreliable renewable electricity generation and endangers our health and safety.  This proposal should be denied.

Editor’s Note: Mark’s concerns and observations are anything but frivolous, as a recent battery storage fire in Wallkill, New York illustrates. And, here’s more.