NextEra Halts East Hampton, Montauk Battery Plants Over Water Contamination

NextEra Energy has suspended operations at its battery storage plants in East Hampton and Montauk and will remove a fire suppression chemical that state regulators linked to drinking water contamination near the East Hampton site, Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine said Monday, Oct. 5.

The two facilities, one on Cove Hollow Road in East Hampton and one near Fort Pond in Montauk, are jointly owned by NextEra and National Grid. Under the arrangement, NextEra will take the suppression agent, Novec 1230, out of both sites by about Oct. 9, the county said.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation found that water sprayed on the East Hampton plant during a May 2023 fire mixed with Novec 1230 and broke down into PFPrA, a short-chain "forever chemical" since detected in drinking water nearby, the county said. Two Suffolk County Water Authority wells have been taken out of service.

"The 2023 fire at the East Hampton BESS location, and the consequent contamination of the site and surrounding areas, prove that the operations must cease until changes are made that will protect our drinking water," Romaine said. He called for a remediation plan approved by the DEC so cleanup can begin.

The shutdown followed a vote by the East Hampton Town Board on Thursday, Oct. 1, to authorize a lawsuit to close both plants. The board hired an environmental law firm and set aside up to $50,000 for the case.

Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez said NextEra shut both facilities less than 24 hours after that vote. "This is the action we demanded, and I am pleased that NextEra responded swiftly to my September 29 letter and the town board's action," she said. She said the town will hold off on suing while its lawyers review the agreement but keeps its legal rights if NextEra does not remove the chemical.

The company had resisted as late as that day. In an Oct. 1 letter to the supervisor, Gary Morris, vice president of the East Hampton Energy Storage Center, wrote that the town's Sept. 29 letter "identifies no basis" for shutting the facilities by Oct. 2.

Romaine and East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen wrote to NextEra and National Grid in July urging a suspension. The county said it supports the Water Authority's lawsuit against NextEra and will keep testing groundwater in the area.