Warwick mayor says village missed verification before Church Street battery fire; hires consultant and seeks records

Mayor Newhart told the Village of Warwick Board of Trustees on Jan. 20 that the village pledged transparency after the Dec. 19 battery energy storage fire at 28 Church Street and acknowledged the village did not complete a formal verification that the system was connected to the electric grid. "From the beginning of the battery energy storage site fire at 28 Church Street, we pledged to be transparent," Mayor Newhart said, adding that Convergent had pressed the building department for a certificate of compliance despite missing safety‑testing paperwork.

The mayor said the village engineer determined required safety paperwork was never provided and that Convergent dismissed repeated requests for periodic inspections after weather events. The board was told a code enforcement email in October had warned that the system appeared to be "fully operational without a certificate of compliance," and that the building department did not confirm grid interconnection before the December fire; that failure is now under formal review.

Why it matters: Board officials and residents raised liability and public‑health concerns and asked what the village could have done differently. Mayor Newhart said the root cause of the Dec. 19 fire remains undetermined and noted that a prior 2023 incident had been caused by water infiltration while the system was not connected to the grid; if water infiltration is the cause again, the mayor said, the grid connection status may not have affected whether a fire occurred.

What the board did: The trustees authorized the village to hire an independent environmental consultant. The board approved a professional‑services agreement with Lebella Associates DPC to conduct an environmental investigation at the Convergent Energy and Power facility at 28 Church Street, with an estimated cost of $24,600; the mayor was authorized to sign the agreement.

Records and oversight: Newhart said the village met privately with representatives of Orange & Rockland (ONR) and that ONR declined to provide certain procurement materials citing commercial sensitivity but agreed to consider sharing parts of interconnection materials. The mayor said ONR confirmed it does not have a municipal‑notification process to inform local governments when systems are energized and that ONR does not independently verify municipal certificates of compliance before issuing permission to operate. The village said it will continue pressing ONR and pursue outstanding records through the state Department of Public Service and FOIL requests.

Public concerns: In public comment, Stephanie Kowalski urged the board to investigate property ownership and corporate arrangements, saying Convergent and prior operators shifted leases to smaller LLCs and that enforcement fines may not be collectible. Kowalski also questioned the interpretation of air‑quality results, saying some sensor readings she reviewed showed higher hydrogen readings than the village had reported. "There's just a lot of this is what we're saying and there's no consequences," Kowalski said, urging the village to pursue financial and remediation accountability.

Next steps: Village officials said Lebella's environmental team will conduct sampling of soil, water and hard surfaces; LeBella will analyze Orange County Hazmat air data and make findings public after technical review. The board said it will post a public information web page and continue outreach to state agencies and ONR as records become available.

The board also scheduled battery removal and said Convergent will perform and pay for a separate root‑cause analysis while the village's consultant will observe on site. No formal determination of cause or liability was announced at the meeting.