Angry residents objected to allowing large battery energy storage systems in Riverhead Town during a public hearing last week, arguing that the safety of the systems and potential locations of the new use should be more carefully studied in the town’s comprehensive planning process.
Residents objecting to adopting the code without further study cited incidents, including battery fires and explosions, at BESS facilities in other states and other countries. People who live in Glenwood Village, a manufactured home community for seniors immediately adjacent to a proposed BESS facility site on Mill Road, north of West Main Street, turned out to demand more scrutiny by the town.
Representatives of the company proposing the facility on Mill Road, as well as a representative of another company that has not filed any applications with the town, told the Town Board the…