Battery Anxiety: East End Municipalities Propose Power Cell Regulations Amid Fire Fears

The Town of Riverhead has proposed a bill that would require electric-bikes and e-scooters sold in the town adhere to new standards intended to prevent the sale of electronics with poorly manufactured lithium-ion batteries often blamed for such fires. And the towns of Southampton and Southold are exploring ways to regulate large lithium battery storage facilities designed to reserve extra power generated by solar and wind generators in the region.

“This isn’t just a town issue,” said Rome Arnold, one of dozens of people who spoke at a recent Southampton town hearing on a possible moratorium on lithium battery storage facilities. “This is the entire South Fork — this thing can shut us down.”

Lithium battery storage systems, which are used to store electricity produced by solar and wind producers, are part of New York State’s plan to promote clean energy. On a smaller scale, consumer products use lithium-ion batteries, including electric vehicles, cell phones and computers, toys, appliances and more, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Lithium-ion batteries are different from alkaline batteries as lithium-ion batteries are rechargeable — but while some lithium-ion batteries tend to be safer, those involved in explosive fires often have design flaws, physical damage, overcharging and other issues.

Consumer advocates and fire departments, particularly in New York City, are urging the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to establish mandatory safety standards and confiscate noncompliant imports when they arrive at the border or shipping ports, so that unsafe e-bikes and poorly manufactured batteries don’t reach streets and endanger homes.

During a forum focused on e-bikes and lithium-ion batteries held last month in Bethesda, Maryland, the commission’s chair, Alexander D. Hoehn-Saric, said it was an “urgent moment” that requires attention.

“Voluntary standards are not enough,” he said, siding with fire officials and other safety advocates who expressed broad support for mandatory standards for batteries and electrical systems in micromobility devices that include battery-powered scooters, bicycles and hoverboards.

SOUTHAMPTON BATTERY STORAGE

Southampton town residents have been speaking out all summer as the town board considers the idea of a three-month moratorium to prohibit the processing of new applications for the construction of other battery storage facilities in the area. Most residents spoke out against a 100-megawatt facility that has already been granted permission to be constructed at a five-acre site on North Road in Hampton Bays — 400 feet away from a residential neighborhood.

Several critics noted how an evacuation plan is not currently listed in any documents to be followed in case of any potential emergency at the facility, like one last year in Chandler, Arizona. Other community members, such as George Georges, who lives in the neighborhood where the facility would be closest to, is concerned about the dangers to public health.

“If there’s a risk and this is a residential area, this is not a good idea,” Georges told the town board. “This is a natural disaster waiting to happen and if it happens on your guys’ vote, it’s going to stay with you forever.”

Southampton Town Councilmember Cyndi McNamara, who supports the moratorium as well as pausing the construction of the already approved storage facility, said that a moratorium would give the board time to learn more about the Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and amend the town code accordingly.

“I believe that taking a pause and amending our code with community and impartial professional and expert input will lead to far less pushback for future projects,” she said. “But we can’t fix the plane while we are flying it.”

Other council members downplayed the fears.

“These systems are very commonplace and the reason you don’t hear about them is because they are,” said Councilmember John Bouvier, who tried to reassure concerned residents. He added that the facility would prevent residents from continuing to pay higher rates for electricity. It would be capable of powering approximately 65,000 homes for approximately two hours in the event that emergency backup power has to be utilized.

Canal Southampton Battery Storage LLC, which proposed the facility furthest along in the town, stated in documents that the proposed facility would reduce reliance on older, fossil fuel-powered power plants.

“This transition will not only reduce the carbon footprint of older energy generation units on Long Island, but it will also result in a net improvement in air quality for the Town of Southampton and Suffolk County residents,” the company stated in a document.

SOUTHOLD SITUATION

Seven Town of Southold residents — a majority having a background in engineering — met in July as part of the town’s newly-appointed BESS committee, established following months of concern about the usage of lithium battery energy facilities.

The board had previously approved a 12-month moratorium on the development of new BESS systems. That decision came just weeks after a 5-megawatt lithium-ion battery storage system in Easy Hampton caught fire in May. Nobody was seriously injured. And there is currently an investigation underway for a sperate, isolated fire at a lithium-ion storage facility in Warwick, N.Y.

Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said that while he understands that no decisions made at the town level will halt the creation of BESS systems, he hopes that recent fires will show the need for stricter applications. He also pleaded for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to work alongside Suffolk County fire departments in how to properly contain these potential blazes.

“We need to have something in place,” he said. “One of the things that I want to say is that I think one of the mistakes some of the original applicants made was that they did not clue in the fire departments soon enough, fast enough.”

Members of the committee expressed concern that due to the scale of these facilities, with the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory stating that they are expected to grow by 10% by 2030, there is no sensible plan in place for regulations — locally and statewide.

While most of the experts suggested writing new codes as the systems continue to be proposed, there was a sense of adapting to reality from others.

“We just need to address the underlying concerns that are there,” said Umberto Fasolino, who has nearly three decades of experience in electrical engineering.

“The notion that we need to be able to zone (BESS systems) out of existence doesn’t exist,” Russell said. “States come in and change the public service law and say okay, guess what, now you have no choice but to accept (them),”

Despite the debate at the town board meetings, neither Southold nor Southampton towns appear to have written legislation that its boards are prepared to vote on. Neither does the Town of East Hampton, despite the reported fire at the BESS there.

It isn’t the North Fork’s first encounter with lithium batteries. In February, an electric vehicle — a lithium-battery-powered Tesla — crashed with a Ford Explorer, sparking an intense fire that left four dead in East Marion. The incident punctuated the need for local firefighters to be trained for the increased probability of such fires.

RIVERHEAD WRANGLES

With some 65,000 e-bikes zipping through its streets, New York City is the epicenter of battery-related fires. There have been more than 100 such blazes so far this year, resulting in at least 14 deaths, already more than double the six fatalities last year.

Some of the hazardous waste from at least one of the NYC fires was brought to Manorville, Riverhead Fire Marshal Craig Zitek said earlier this summer. Eastern Environmental Solutions, a clean-up company, was hired to remove, transport and dispose of the battery waste, the company’ president, Michael Flynn, said in a phone interview. About 1,000 pounds of combined batteries and specific protection packaging were brought to Manorville and kept in permitted trucks on June 24 and June 30. Following recycling protocol of this waste, the batteries were to be held in these trucks until approved for the disposal facility within 10 days, Flynn said.

“This is hazardous waste, what’s it doing coming to Riverhead?” said town resident Barbara Blass at a July 6 town board meeting. “I am outraged that anyone would be allowed to dump their hazardous waste in our town. Did anyone look at the manifest?”

Lithium-ion batteries fall under their universal waste regulations, which does not require a manifest documenting its importation. The state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) confirmed that the materials would not stay on the East End permanently.

The DEC said they are actively investigating this facility to ensure compliance of all rules and regulations after a July 7 inspection that found potential violations of their permit. Eastern Environmental has a current DEC Part 364 permit which allows the transportation of this waste to a destination facility.

“DEC responded to reports that Eastern Environmental had transported all drums of lithium-ion batteries to NLR recycling in Connecticut,” the agency wrote in a statement.

Flynn confirmed that the battery waste was transported to the recycling facility in Connecticut on July 8 and did not stay nor was disposed of in Manorville. He also explained that although 99% of these batteries were in proper condition and only a few were damaged, all were recyclable.

The debate came as the Riverhead Town Board proposed a law to ban the sale, lease or rental of one of these devices that use lithium ion batteries unless they were certified by Underwriters Laboratories.

“The intent of the proposed legislation is to restrict the sale, lease or rental of Electric Bicycles and Electric Scooters and Lithium Batteries and chargers that do not meet the standards set by an accredited testing laboratory such as Underwriters Laboratories (UL),” the proposal states.

The draft proposal states that no person “shall distribute, sell, lease, rent or offer for sale, lease or rental a electric bicycle unless the electric system has been certified by an accredited testing laboratory for compliance with Underwriters Laboratories; and that the certification or the logo, wordmark, or name of the accredited testing laboratory is displayed.”

The town board heard comments from residents at a public hearing on the proposal but had yet to schedule a vote on the legislation as of press time. The debate comes as Democratic members in New York’s congressional delegation, including U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, are spearheading efforts to regulate the devices nationally.

Because mandatory standards don’t exist, Schumer said, poorly made batteries have flooded the U.S., increasing the risk of fires. In many cases, authorities have been challenged to track the source of batteries manufactured overseas, many of them bought online or from aftermarket dealers.

Last year, some 1.1 million e-bikes were imported into the U.S., according to the Light Electric Vehicle Association. In 2021, more than 880,000 e-bikes came into the country — about double from the year before and triple the number in 2019.

Tighter regulations, safety standards and compliance testing drastically reduced the risk of fires in such devices, according to Robert Slone, the senior vice president and chief scientist for UL Solutions.

The same can happen with e-bike batteries, he said, if they are made to comply with established safety standards. One feature most of these batteries lack is the ability to automatically shut off to prevent overheating and “thermal runaways” that lead to explosions and fires.

“We just need to make them safe, and there is a way to make them safe through testing and certification,” Slone said, “given the history that we’ve seen in terms of fires and injuries and unfortunately, deaths as well — not just in New York, but across the country and around the world.”

-With Associated Press