Suffolk exec Romaine wants battery plant shut over contamination concerns

Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine is calling for the owners of a utility-size battery storage facility in East Hampton to cease operations amid findings of high levels of toxins suspected from a 2023 fire at the plant.

In a letter to the top executives of energy companies NextEra and National Grid, which together own and operate the facility on Cove Hollow Road, Romaine cited recent reports in Newsday and a lawsuit by the Suffolk County Water Authority against the owners as raising “serious concerns that warrant immediate action."

“I call upon NextEra and National Grid to immediately cease operations, fully cooperate with all ongoing investigations, provide complete transparency regarding environmental conditions at the site, and take full responsibility for any remediation that is determined to be necessary,” Romaine wrote, according to a copy of the letter obtained by Newsday.

NextEra spokesman Chris Curtland in an email said: "While we are unable to comment on an ongoing case, we remain committed to working with local and state officials on the investigation. The project is operating safely." 

National Grid didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. 

The East Hampton battery plant in 2023 experienced a thermal-runaway fire that required 30 hours of dousing with water from internal sprinklers. The effort sent between 1.4 million and 2.2 million gallons of soot-tainted water onto the property around the site.

The water authority, in its regular testing of water wells 2,500 feet south of the plant, began noticing levels of a toxin known as PFPrA earlier this year. When levels exceeded a 50 parts per billion, triggering an "unregulated organic maximum contaminant level" standard, the authority took two wells offline. It has since ceased using two other wells in the same area, heightening a water shortage in the Hamptons.

The authority in late May sued the battery plant owners and battery maker, LG Energy Solution, in federal court, alleging they contaminated nearby water wells in their effort to suppress the 2023 fire. 

The authority is now testing for the so-called "forever" toxin at an even more stringent preliminary screening level set by the state at 3 parts per billion, said Dan Dubois, a spokesman for the water authority. 

“We want to provide the highest-level quality water to our customers," he said.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation, which oversaw the 2023 investigation of the site and is leading the newly launched probe, did not in 2023 require testing of the groundwater around the plant because, it said, soil borings taken months after the fire showed "no adverse impacts to soil from the discharge of firewater." 

Newsday last week reported newly drilled wells by Suffolk’s Health Services Department had found levels of PFPrA as high as 1,700 parts per billion — far exceeding the state screening level. Other samples showed levels of PFPrA at 1,080 parts per billion and 896 parts per billion at  depths between 35 feet and 50 feet. All those wells are adjacent to homes on Wireless Road and Cove Hollow Road in East Hampton, near the battery plant.

John Salka, a spokesman for the DEC, in an email wrote, "Please note there is no drinking water standard for PFPrA." 

The state Department of Health, in a new webpage devoted specifically to the site, said its “preliminary” screening level of 3 parts per billion is “supported by the available science and is highly protective of public health."

And while concurring there is no "specific state or federal drinking water standard guidance" for the chemical, the state and the county “will use this screening level [of 3 parts per billion] for assessing health risks and actions to address PFPrA in private and public well water during the East Hampton investigation,” the health department noted.

While not much is known about the impacts of PFPrA on humans, studies of considerably higher amounts of the chemical tested on rats show “liver effects,” the department said, adding the body can “rapidly clear” the toxin from the body, faster than other forever chemicals that can bioaccumulate.

The health department said other states have developed standards for another PFAS compound called perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) that is similar to PFPrA, but more extensively studied, and also impacts the liver.

“Several states and the Federal government have developed drinking water screening levels for PFBA ranging from 1.8 to 24 parts per billion,” the department said. “These similarities provide more support that the 3 parts per billion PFPrA screening level is set appropriately for public health protection.”

Big storage batteries are a key part of Gov. Kathy Hochul's green-energy plan, allowing utilities to store power rather than rely on locally placed small power plants. She doubled the state mandate for batteries to 6,000 megawatts by 2030, and her administration has a pending award of battery contracts that could include nearly a dozen large batteries in Suffolk. Her spokesman, Ken Lovett, didn't respond to a message seeking comment.

Romaine, a Republican, has been a supporter of green energy, most notably backing the Sunrise Wind farm during his time as Brookhaven town supervisor. The project is expected to be complete in around a year. Brookhaven also has approved a light industrial zone for utility-scale batteries and doesn't have a moratorium on the plants, as do most other towns.

But in his letter to the battery owners, Romaine said protecting drinking water and public health “must take precedence over all other considerations.” He added, “I urge your company to act responsibly and suspend operations until this matter has been fully resolved.”

East Hampton Mayor Jerry Larsen in a Newsday story last week also called for the temporary shutdown of the plant and a second in Montauk. Larsen said the village supports Romaine's letter.

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.