Battery energy storage facilities continue to be developed across Southeast Queens despite residents\u2019 safety concerns.<\/p>\n
Nine Dot Energy, a Brooklyn-based energy company, is developing four separate battery energy storage facilities in Hollis, South Ozone Park and St. Albans. The facilities use lithium-ion batteries to capture energy from the grid, which is then discharged when there is high demand for power.<\/p>\n
Residents are concerned about the potential danger of the storage facilities. Thermal runaway, which can lead to overheating and fires, represents the biggest threat.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there is a fire, we are all dead,\u201d said Jeanne Ramlakhan, a resident from Hollis whose house is located only feet away from a proposed site.<\/p>\n
Nine Dot says the maintenance of the storage facilities will be remotely operated. Ramlakhan said that \u201cif it\u2019s not dangerous they should put their own workers there and if it has to blow up, let them die too.\u201d She is steadfast in her opposition, stating that there will be \u201cabsolutely no negotiation, we want it to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Residents are demanding that the storage facilities be relocated to industrial areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not saying no to renewable energy, but it cannot be next to residents\u2019 homes,\u201d said Amit Shivprasad, a Hollis resident.<\/p>\n
Battery energy storage facilities have been operating in New York City since 2019 and there has not yet been a safety incident. However, fires have broken out at facilities in upstate New York and on Long Island. In January, a battery fire in northern California led to mass evacuations and concerns about air and soil contamination.<\/p>\n
Sam Brill, Nine Dot Energy\u2019s vice president of strategic development, emphasized that the FDNY\u2019s strict regulations ensure the safety of the storage facilities. He claimed that the FDNY\u2019s high standard of regulation \u201cis not the case in other parts of the country,\u201d insisting that \u201cthey will not let us build it until they determine that it is safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Battery energy storage facilities are intended to strengthen the power grid during extreme heat events. According to a statement on Nine Dot\u2019s website, the facilities reduce reliance on fossil fuel power and enable greater use of renewable energy.<\/p>\n
A statement on Nine Dot\u2019s website claims that \u201cBattery projects built locally, near where electricity is consumed, can help alleviate congestion and make sure people have access to cleaner electricity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brill stated that \u201cCon Edison identified certain parts of Queens as being particularly in need.\u201d<\/p>\n
But residents also are concerned that the hum from the storage facilities will cause noise pollution.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey create noise above the level that is acceptable in residential neighborhoods,\u201d said Bill Scarborough, president of the Addisleigh Park Civic Association.<\/p>\n
Residents are worried, too, that the facilities may increase the cost of fire insurance and diminish their property value.<\/p>\n
Jasmine Lawrence, whose Addisleigh Park home is directly adjacent to a proposed facility on Linden Boulevard, said, \u201cI worked too hard to save this property for my children.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nine Dot sued Lawrence and her husband Kevin over their refusal to allow access to their property during the development of the proposed site.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were incensed,\u201d said Lawrence. \u201cThat took a lot of nerve from them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Lawrences and the Addisleigh Park Civic Association have since filed a joint counterclaim against Nine Dot.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur hope is that they will deny them access and take it somewhere else,\u201d said Lawrence.<\/p>\n
The initial case, Urban Future Clean Energy LLC versus Kevin and Jasmine Lawrence, appeared in Queens County State Supreme Court on Sept. 30 and has been adjourned until Nov. 18.<\/p>\n
The counterclaim is expected to be heard Nov. 18.<\/p>\n
Nine Dot began developing the four proposed sites in Southeast Queens in early 2025, but none are operational yet. Residents feel aggrieved that they were not consulted in advance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey never came to the community board,\u201d said Shivprasad. \u201cThey should have … respect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brill claims that Nine Dot has been fully transparent and approached various community representatives in advance of the development.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been reaching out to this community for so many months,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Community members, however, continue to feel overlooked.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese individuals who represent Nine Dot, they don\u2019t live here in our community,\u201d said Aracelia Cook, president of the 149th South Ozone Park Civic Association.<\/p>\n
Andrea Scarborough, Bill\u2019s wife, is skeptical of Nine Dot\u2019s claimed good intentions, saying that \u201cas far as they\u2019re concerned, they\u2019re helping us, but they\u2019re [really] helping themselves \u2014 reducing costs and increasing profit. It all comes down to greed, to the green bill.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many residents blame the City of Yes zoning initiative, claiming that it allowed the storage facilities to bypass community review, though it only dates to last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe city has allowed these companies to run roughshod over communities in the name of clean energy,\u201d said Bill Scarborough.<\/p>\n
The storage facilities are being built as of right under zoning rules and therefore do not require community approval.<\/p>\n
Nine Dot notes that the sites were approved even before City of Yes came into effect.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has had no impact on our ability to build this site,\u201d said Brill.<\/p>\n
Nine Dot\u2019s only operational city locations are in Staten Island and the Bronx. The development of sites in Middle Village and in Marine Park in Brooklyn has been delayed by ongoing community opposition.<\/p>\n
The City Council\u2019s Committee on Fire Emergency and Management has scheduled a public hearing on BESS facilites for Oct. 28, which many concerned residents hope to attend.<\/p>\n
The Southeast Queens Environmental Justice Coalition has been organizing protests at the site of one of the proposed developments, on the corner of Linden Boulevard and 179th Street at the border of St. Albans and Jamaica.<\/p>\n
The Republican mayoral candidate, Curtis Sliwa, has made regular appearances at the protests.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s the only guy that\u2019s been to every one of these rallies,\u201d said Shivprasad.<\/p>\n
At a protest in September, Bill Scarborough said, \u201cIt\u2019s our lives that are at risk. They\u2019re taking a gamble with our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Battery energy storage facilities continue to be developed across Southeast Queens despite residents\u2019 safety concerns. Nine Dot Energy,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5826,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[5426,3242,194,2609,9,24,63,122,124,123,1986,5427],"class_list":{"0":"post-5825","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-battery-energy-storage-system","9":"tag-environment","10":"tag-fdny","11":"tag-middle-village","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-nyc","15":"tag-queens","16":"tag-queens-headlines","17":"tag-queens-news","18":"tag-safety","19":"tag-southeast-queens"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}