Bess Dangers

Lithium-ion batteries are prone to overheating, swelling, electrolyte leakage venting, smoke, and explosions and fires involving thermal runaway.

BESS fires aren’t easily extinguished. Best practice is to let them burn out, which can take days. Evacuations and shelter in place orders can be issued for up to a two-mile radius around the facility.
Toxic chemicals and harmful gasses release during a thermal event. Strong winds can carry residual, toxic ash far and wide and cause soil and water contamination.
Pressure waves from explosive blasts can damage nearby homes, blow out windows, and send shrapnel over a ½ mile away.
First responders are particularly at risk because special equipment and training is needed to respond to BESS fires and failures. Hurley does not have an official fire fighting force - only volunteers.
As BESS facilities are a fairly new development, there are no long-term studies on public health or environmental impact studies completed to date. Additionally, there are no comprehensive, national safety standards yet.

Safety Risks & Dangers

Residential neighborhoods and rural communities become industrial zones. The facilities are made up of massive tractor trailer sized containers and 24/7 running electronics, destroying surrounding aesthetics, peace, and quiet.
Facilities cause noise, light, and water pollution - 24/7.
- Noise Pollution: HVAC fans run all day, every day to maintain battery temperatures and prevent overheating/thermal runaway. Power conversion devices also emit a continuous humming noise. The hum of a BESS facility can penetrate nearby windows & walls of homes. Even low level noise pollution can can cause stress-related illnesses, high blood pressure, speech interference, hearing loss, sleep disruption, and lost productivity. Read more here.
- Light Pollution: BESS facilities must be properly lit for safety and observation at all times. The constant lighting can affect migrating birds and other wildlife by disrupting biological rhythms and interferes with the behavior of nocturnal animals.
- Water Pollution: The lithium ion batteries stored in BESS contain toxic PFAS, also known as ‘forever chemicals’. Battery fires release PFAS into the environment when extinguished with water from a fire sprinkler system. Read more here.

BESS is attractive to investors and banking groups from around the world that siphon from our power grids for profit. BESS facilities profit by developing and storing electricity during off-peak hours for higher resale during peak hours. When privately-owned electricity sources emerge without (or in place of) competitive federal and state regulated utility companies, local electricity costs can skyrocket.

Residents of Hurley and Ulster County assume all the risks with none of the financial rewards that investors make when building and operating these facilities in our community.
If there are local power outages related to damaged power lines or extreme weather, BESS facilities using our grid are not required to provide any additional power to the community.
Property values can drop ~10-30% and home insurance costs can rise by X-X% depending on how close you live in relation to a BESS facility.
Not IF, but WHEN a BESS facility causes local issues, residents and counties have no legal recourse except to sue the operator’s LLC, third parties, and the battery company. In these cases, BESS operators can use an LLC’s limited liability protections to bankrupt the smaller entity while protecting the main organization and investors.

When lithium batteries leak and burn, they require thousands of gallons of water per minute to prevent fires from spreading. This could devastate local aquifers.
Contaminated water can enter our wells, wetlands, streams, and rivers.
It only takes 20mg of lithium to be fatal to a human.
In the event of a fire, lithium gas has the potential to harm/kill outdoor pets and livestock.
BESS facilities disrupt, displace, and harm local wildlife including (what’s local to Hurley?)