A plan to build what could become New York state’s largest battery energy storage facility just outside Kingston has ignited a firestorm of opposition from residents, firefighters and elected officials, who warn that placing the 250-megawatt site in a densely populated neighborhood is a disaster waiting to happen.
In response, the Hurley Town Board wrote a letter to Town of Ulster and City of Kingston officials, county legislators, state officials, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission calling for a full environmental review of the proposed 250-megawatt battery storage facility and a six-month moratorium.
“We recognize the importance of renewable energy and energy storage, but our priority is the safety, health, and environmental protection of all communities potentially affected by this project,” the letter reads.
The proposed former Coleman Catholic High School site is on a narrow strip of land in the Town of Ulster and bordered by the Town of Hurley and City of Kingston. The letter cites the surrounding dense residential areas, including 150 homes in Elmendorf Heights and Rolling Meadows in Hurley and 100 apartments in Country Village and more than 250 apartments at Stony Run in Kingston. It is also near two churches and three schools.
“This 250-megawatt battery storage facility will be 10x larger than any other working site in New York state. Again, while we recognize that there is a need for battery storage facilities, placing this facility in the middle of a residential area is irresponsible and an invitation for disaster,” the letter reads.
The project, proposed by renewable energy company Terra-Gen, would be able to power up to 250,000 homes and businesses for up to four hours at a time. It would store power for release to the grid during periods of high demand. The project’s critics, however, feel safety trumps promised energy gains.
“I have many concerns regarding the proposed facility, but my main concern is fire,” said Hurley resident Steve Bauer, who is a captain in the City of Poughkeepsie Fire Department.
“In recent years, lithium-ion battery fires have increased at an alarming rate. I’ve been involved with a few in my career. They burn hot, fast and are extremely toxic,” he said.
“They’re difficult to extinguish due to the self-igniting properties of these batteries.”
“It takes very little time for battery failure from a small electric scooter to become a large-scale fire causing catastrophic damage,” Bauer said.
“Electric car fires are another type of lithium-ion fire. These fires are extremely hard to extinguish, needing 25,000 to 50,000 gallons of water to put them out. It is advised that after a car fire is out, the car be submerged for a week to prevent re-ignition,” he said.
“What is being proposed is thousands of times larger than any car fire. It will not be able to be put out. It will have to burn out.”
Bauer said he understands the batteries will have fire suppression systems, but those systems can fail.
“This is not a question of if there will be a fire. The question is when, and what is left will be a hazardous material site. If one of these lithium-ion trailers catches fire, the neurotoxins and carcinogens released will be a health hazard to the whole community,” he said.
“Hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, and heavy metals are just a few of the toxins in the smoke from these fires. Hydrogen fluoride can attack the calcium in bones and turns into hydrofluoric acid when mixed with the water used to fight the fire. This has the potential to get in our drinking water.”
Bauer also expressed concerns about evacuating the area in the event of a fire.
“Evacuating hundreds, if not thousands, of people from the surrounding area will be another task, with many apartments — some with elderly residents — within a few yards, and two schools within half a mile. This will be a chaotic scene and expose those trying to escape,” he said.
Hurley Town Supervisor Mike Boms said he went to a NYSERDA conference where a big question was why someone couldn’t monitor the plant on-site.
“The answer was, well, you can’t, because if the fire starts, you will be immediately incinerated,” Boms said.
“The thing is that, whether you’re against this plan for safety reasons or not, putting it in the middle of a residential area is just insane,” Boms said.
“It’s just insane, especially since there are sites along the way. You have iPark, which is an industrial area. You have a huge industrial area down in Highland.”
Deputy Supervisor John Perry said there is a 101-acre site off Route 28 that is near the high-tension power lines needed for such a plant.
“That would be a better situation for this battery storage plant. So I spoke to the broker and the owners. They would definitely entertain it,” he said.
“So with the board’s approval, I’d like to continue working on this and potentially present it to the Town of Ulster as an alternative. We might as well come up with a solution.”
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