More than 50 Glen Head, Glenwood Landing and Glen Cove residents gathered at the American Legion in Glen Head on Thursday, June 5, to rally against Propel NY Energy and Jupiter Power, two clean-energy companies that have showcased interest in the North Shore area for their respective projects.
Christine Panzeca, one of the event’s organizers, said the rally called for “state and federal levels, especially Gov. Hochul, to recognize our lives, our homes and prioritize the health and safety of our community” by taking measures to prevent these projects.
“We deserve better,” Panzeca said.
Residents at the rally shared concerns, including the impacts of electromagnetic fields and radiation and lithium battery fires that have occurred at previous BESS sites. In an emergency, residents said Long Island traffic and congestion would hinder the ability to evacuate the area safely.
Residents said the companies proposing the facility are not transparent and have not properly addressed their concerns.
The Town of Oyster Bay and the City of Glen Cove have already approved a six-month moratorium on the storage systems. The town has implemented the six-month ban three consecutive times, with its most recent extension this April.
“Our residents have been clear—they’re still worried about the possible risks these facilities could bring to their neighborhoods. More reviews and investigations are needed before we even think about allowing them in our town,” said Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino in a statement after the vote to extend the moratorium in April.
Last month, Jupiter Power pulled out of its proposal for a 275-megawatt battery storage system that was proposed for Glenwood Landing, according to previous reports. However, residents remain concern about Propel’s proposed electrical transmission line project.
The Propel team held a public information session in Mineola on March 26 and told residents that “no negative human or animal health impacts have been found in 40-plus years of EMF research by credible scientific or health organizations.”
Residents at the rally expressed concerns, however, that the new technology would increase risk of illnesses like cancer.
“What does it mean when they say they’re going to monitor and mitigate? How do you mitigate cancer? How do you mitigate deformed children and dead, unborn children? That is not mitigatable,” said Christina Kramer, the president of Protect Our Coast Long Island New York on the South Shore.
In addition to the residents, the event was attended representatives from the Glen Cove Chamber of Commerce and Gold Coast Business Association, as well as Glen Cove City Council Member John Zozzaro.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman sent in a video statement to the protestors. He said the presence of these facilities is a “dangerous situation” created by the state government and that local officials and residents should have control over “what is in their communities.”
“I’m behind your efforts 100% to ban these lithium battery storage facilities in our communities,” Blakeman said.
Other county officials said they are not against clean energy, but do not deem the battery storage systems safe enough to be within the community.
“This really isn’t about politics. It’s not Democrat, Republican. We are all united on not having these types of storage facilities in our local neighborhoods,” said Nassau County Legislator Samatha Goetz, who represents areas including Glen Head, Locust Valley, Oyster Bay and East Norwich.
“The technology is just not there and our safety is our number one issue,” said Nassau County Minority Delia DeRiggi-Whitton, who represents areas including Glen Cove, Glenwood Landing, Port Washington and areas of Roslyn.
The officials shared concerns for the region’s firefighters as lithium battery fires are difficult to control. Many other firefighters have been told to let the fires “burn out,” they said.
“We do not have the ability to put these fires out,” Goetz said.
Colin Bell, deputy commissioner of the Town of Oyster Bay’s Department of Environmental Resources, said he worked on the town’s moratorium against the BESS systems and it is important that local governments develop codes regarding the facilities.
But local officials weren’t the only ones that residents requested action from.
“We also call on the president and his cabinet in the Army Corps of Engineers to look at these projects and project propel and our harbor, and to look into the state’s energy policies and the impact to residents, our waterways and communities like ours. It’s just unjust what’s being done to Long Island and the state,” Panzeca said.
