Council Member Phil Wong is calling for a criminal investigation after accusing the contractor overseeing the installation of a battery energy storage system (BESS) facility in Middle Village of assaulting one of his staffers on two separate occasions last week – allegations that are heavily disputed by the energy company overseeing the installation.
Wong claimed his staffer was pushed to the ground Thursday, July 2, by an employee of GA Industries, a contractor conducting the installation of the battery at a site owned by NineDot Energy at 64-30 69th Pl.
The NYPD arrived at the scene shortly afterward, where they were informed that Wong’s staffer was viewing activity at the site through a small window in the fence when he was confronted by a 59-year-0ld employee. Police said a verbal dispute ensued, with both parties stating that they pulled at each other, causing both to fall to the ground. No injuries were reported and the investigation remains ongoing.
Wong, however, said his staffer suffered a head injury during the incident, adding that he spent a night in hospital for observation.
Wong’s staffer suffered a head injury after allegedly being shoved to the ground during a confrontation. Police say both men had grabbed each other. Photo via Council Member Phil Wong
He also accused a GA Industries employee of shoving a member of his staff while they recorded activity at the site from a public sidewalk on Wednesday. Footage of the incident circulated on social media shows Wong’s staffer repeatedly telling the employee to “stop working” while both men appeared to encroach in each other’s personal space. The employee later appears to push Wong’s staffer away from the fence after first asking him to leave the area.
Wong accused GA employees of exiting the site on both days to confront his staffers, who he said were documenting activity through a legally required opening in the construction fence.
NineDot pushes back
While GA did not respond to QNS’ request for comment. NineDot did and pushed back strongly against Wong’s claims. A spokesperson accused Wong’s office of routinely ignoring directions of safety personnel at the site and disrupting an active construction site.
“Safety is our top priority in operating energy storage systems, and it’s also our top priority in constructing them,” a NineDot spokesperson said in a statement. “It is unacceptable for anyone to make an active construction site unsafe by ignoring the directions of safety personnel, as the council member’s staff were doing.”
Wong also claimed his office had been inspecting the site after the Department of Buildings issued a Partial Stop Work Order at the location. DOB officials said agency inspectors issued the order after determining that work at the site was outside the scope of the issued permit.
An agency spokesperson said DOB issued the permit on July 1 because GA was using an excavator to dig, which requires an earthwork permit. The current permit only allows for the concrete pad and the foundation work, the spokesperson added.
DOB issued a violation on July 2 after GA had failed to comply with the Stop Work Order.
Wong described the alleged assaults and the failure to comply with the DOB order as “unacceptable.”
“In two days, a member of my staff has allegedly been assaulted while simply documenting activity from a public sidewalk,” Wong said in a statement. “We don’t need shady contractors illegally working on a construction site and then trying to intimidate public servants who are doing their jobs.”
A NineDot spokesperson said DOB had issued a foundation work permit for the site and accused Wong’s staff of forcibly crossing safety barriers, accosting and verbally abusing onsite personnel and blocking heavy-duty equipment “for two days in a row.”
“In the process of trying to bypass the safety team, a staff member lost his balance and nearly hurt others,” a spokesperson said. “This unprofessional behavior comes after the council member and his staff have made numerous social media postings spreading purposeful disinformation, including about the environmental history of the site.”
The company is also confident that issues over DOB permits will soon be resolved and that work will continue on what they described as a “critical piece of infrastructure.”
“We are confident that any confusion with the DOB will be resolved shortly, and work will continue on this critical piece of grid infrastructure pursuant to approvals by the experts at the DOB and FDNY, not a politician seeking likes on Facebook.”
Wong renews calls to relocate BESS facility
Wong is now calling on NineDot to consider moving the location of its proposed BESS facility in the wake of the accusations.
The company received significant community backlash when it filed for permits for the facility last year, with numerous protests taking place at the proposed location.
Wong had consistently suggested alternative locations for the facility, arguing that the current site sits across the street from PS/IS 128. Wong and other opponents have pointed to a fire at the Moss Landing energy storage facility fire in California and several that occurred in Warwick, New York, as evidence that BESS facilities are not safe around schools.
However, several energy advocates have noted “key differences” between those sites and planned BESS facilities in New York City, which store energy from renewable sources and release it to the grid during periods of peak demand to help avoid blackouts and brownouts.
Of the almost 7,500 BESS facilities in the state, only three have caught fire, for a .04% failure rate. To date, there has not been a fire or safety incident at any of the 30 BESSs already operating in the city.
The batteries used in the Moss Landing and Warwick facilities are not permitted for use within the city, with BESS facilities in the city using batteries sealed in water-proof, fire-proof and noise-dampening containers, as required by the FDNY.
Energy storage facilities in the city utilize a system that automatically shuts off any cell that is overheating, while NineDot has stated that the Middle Village facility will adhere to the FDNY’s “best-in-the-nation” BESS safety standards.
Furthermore, NineDot said the two alternative sites previously suggested by Wong — one at 46-46 Metropolitan Ave. and one at 56-41 56th Terrace — are not suitable, with the Metropolitan Avenue site located in a flood plain and the 56th Terrace location requiring the demolition of six residential properties.
“Middle Village residents faced a brutal heat wave this past week that tested grid reliability and public health, but, for some reason, this council member and his staff appear determined to stop a critical solution to these challenges,” a company spokesperson said.
Still, Wong is renewing his efforts to relocate the BESS facility in the wake of the allegations last week.
“If this is how NineDot chooses to do business, New Yorkers should be deeply concerned. They were offered an opportunity months ago to relocate this project. They should do the right thing, take that deal, and move this facility somewhere it belongs,” Wong said in a statement.
He claimed the facility has faced widespread opposition from elected officials, local residents, businesses and parents, who argue that the facility should be relocated away from homes, schools and “other sensitive locations.”