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Yonkers council urges county study of battery energy storage safety after members cite explosion risks
Summary
The Yonkers City Council adopted a resolution asking Westchester County to study safety standards and mitigation for battery energy storage systems after council members described lithium-ion installations as dangerous and called for stronger local and county oversight.
The Yonkers City Council on April 22 adopted a resolution urging the Westchester County Board of Legislators, the county executive and the Westchester County Department of Health to study and provide standards and resources for the safe installation, maintenance and mitigation of battery energy storage systems (BESS).
The resolution was adopted unanimously, 7-0. Council members supporting the resolution described lithium-ion storage sites as hazardous and said county-level guidance and stronger local controls are needed.
“this is not a potentially dangerous. It is a dangerous. It's not potentially dangerous,” Councilman Moranti said during debate, adding that the council should be more aggressive and that such facilities “should be nowhere near human beings at least by 5 miles because they are dangerous.”
Minority Leader Bridal Brennan said the council previously established a moratorium on development of these facilities, issued an RFP for technical expertise and asked the county health department to weigh in because Yonkers does not have its own health department. “We put up a moratorium on any development. We then put out an RFP to get some experts to come in and tell us what what's this all about,” Brennan said, adding that the council is trying to prevent installations she characterized as “time bombs” from locating in neighborhoods.
The resolution asks the county to study, identify and provide standards and resources for safe and effective installation, maintenance and mitigation of potentially dangerous and contaminating battery energy storage systems throughout Westchester County. The text of the adopted resolution directs county-level agencies to analyze siting, enforcement and emergency-response needs and to consider public-health impacts.
The council took no binding local regulatory action in the meeting; the item is a request to county authorities and a call for the county to provide guidance and resources. The motion passed on a recorded voice vote of seven in favor and none opposed.
Background: Council members said Yonkers previously enacted a moratorium and sought outside expertise through a request for proposals. Supporters cited footage and reports of fires and explosions involving lithium-ion batteries and urged caution in siting and permitting decisions. No specific county-level study timeline or funding source was specified in the resolution.
