{"id":82915,"date":"2025-12-28T18:46:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T18:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/82915\/"},"modified":"2025-12-28T18:46:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T18:46:08","slug":"second-fire-at-upstate-bess-site-shows-these-unsafe-toxic-facilities-must-be-stopped-opinion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/82915\/","title":{"rendered":"Second fire at upstate BESS site shows these unsafe, toxic facilities must be stopped | Opinion"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"YF2J6GIW4BH4BHY466EGLPHEYU\">A fire broke out at a battery energy storage system site in Warwick, N.Y., on Dec. 19. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"MCEETZ7BUZCFPADAU33RABLIQM\">It was the second time that this particular BESS site has erupted in flames since 2023.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"4TPMAWXHSZD7ZDQTIYDAOP3PYA\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.silive.com\/news\/2025\/12\/after-ny-battery-energy-storage-sites-3rd-fire-bp-calls-staten-island-locations-dangerous.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.silive.com\/news\/2025\/12\/after-ny-battery-energy-storage-sites-3rd-fire-bp-calls-staten-island-locations-dangerous.html\">It was the third BESS-related fire in that town since that time. <\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"MRPRMDI4AJEVDL2BGTLL4HUX4I\">A fire also broke out earlier this year at the largest BESS site in the world, at Moss Landing in California. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"PEJMST765JAH3H23O6BLUCVZZI\">In other words, this is no fluke: these BESS sites are inherently dangerous and have the potential to hurt people. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"X6N3A7CG6ZCPXK2VHM2CAMEOT4\">What else has to happen before Gov. Kathy Hochuyl and New York City officials get the message?<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"OBDIJYHHLFDAHNIWKDVNOC6LKI\">The Warwick and Moss Landing fires both led to evacuations in those towns. The fires burned for days, spewing toxic smoke other both communities. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"Q2JSOW5BSBC2DAOS6EKTJULXLA\">BESS fires can\u2019t be extinguished by traditional firefighting methods. The lithium-ion blazes generally have to be left to burn out on their own. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"JTLBCFMTOBBAFNJVQLPKCA7M2A\">But firefighters and other emergency personnel must still respond to the fires at these sites. That puts all of them, as well as anybody who lives in the area, at risk. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"LNDUX3BU5REX3IIQKZM2PGASDY\">Even when BESS sites operate normally, we don\u2019t know the full extent of the health and environmental impacts that they could have on surrounding people and property. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"UR4RLGFMXZEFFO2SLW56YC75LU\">These BESS sites also have a shelf life. What happens to the facilities after they\u2019ve outlived their usefulness? What toxins might be left behind to be remediated?<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"FST45LOX4NHFTHTNSQWZXOO2GQ\">Your guess is as good as mine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"BLSEOJMZTVEUVF5LCRJHEX7B6M\">At least the BESS site in Warwick isn\u2019t smack in the center of the town\u2019s business district or in a residential neighborhood. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"BBWH2FRKW5DM3ICAXOTPRO2MQA\">Here in New York City, crazy City of Yes regulations passed under soon-to-be-former Mayor Eric Adams insanely allow BESS sites to be built in residential communities and next to mom-and-pop stores in Main Street-style shopping areas. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"3BMSODYXHNHW7KG6IIQFWSNLHE\">One of these BESS sites could be built directly next to your house and you\u2019d have no way of stopping it. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"SOIJEFE5WBC5NAK4F73KRPZOAM\">You likely wouldn\u2019t even know it\u2019s coming until the BESS site is actually under construction because there\u2019s no law that says that you, as a homeowner with vested interest in the value of your property, have to be notified about it. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"PHPZVEJEIBG4HI3YXHPUOKPV7A\">City of Yes also significantly loosened the regulations when it comes to how big these BESS sites can be before requiring a special permit, even in manufacturing or industrial zones. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"PXHNQK6GFFBCPA5S4EJYMNO7UQ\">We\u2019ve been placed in this danger because of the Democrats\u2019 hysterical green policies, where Hochul and the rest have told us we must have have these energy storage sites in order to meet residential electrification goals that most reasonable people agreed were ridiculous and unattainable from the start.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"ISTNFJ364VDYDMB4I5VROZV2NY\">But Democrats have to bend the knee to green activists and climate-conscious Zoomers, so there you have it. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"5O7RNMRNBBH2TOXHXW4V54DD5U\">New York has backed off on some of those electrification goals, but the BESS sites are still coming, including several to Staten Island. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"JEIKAXLOQNGZLDJJUNHZ6SNDD4\">Construction of all BESS sites should be halted until the true danger these sites pose can be determined. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"P2IPWCICDJGLDM2M46HKHBMMHE\">City regulations also must be changed so that these BESS sites can no longer be built in residential neighborhoods. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"LUHTJ7HLDFDU7AUSCCQKGAR6PA\">Until then, New Yorkers simply are not safe. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A fire broke out at a battery energy storage system site in Warwick, N.Y., on Dec. 19. It&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79587,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-82915","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82915","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=82915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82915\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}