Letters

Part of this past week’s Town Board meeting was devoted to a belated presentation by the Canal BESS applicant’s lawyer to convince the board not to include the applicant in an extension of the battery energy storage system moratorium.

His argument seemed to fall into three categories: law, money spent, and the perfidiousness of the Hampton Bays community in fighting this BESS installation.

The law argument seemed to be that all laws and standards in effect at the time of application had been properly followed by the applicant. Ergo, anything that has been discovered or decided since the application that is contrary to the installation of BESS should fail if they do not agree with those previous laws and standards.

Money: since the applicant claims he has spent over $2 million over the years on this project, he is owed some sort of consideration. Those two arguments, if one calls them that, seem to be a warmup for a possible lawsuit against the town.

One can’t speak to the legal merits of these arguments. But, in my opinion, they are wrong.

The Town Board does not seem to have fallen down the hole where law replaces common sense and conscience and therefore has extended the moratorium while the good work started by the working committee continues. In the meantime, the applicant’s quest to be exempted from the moratorium will be pondered for a short while as his legal standing permits.

Now, what is one to think of legal arguments buttressed by slurring those who disagree? The suggestion that the opponents to BESS are NIMBY advocates, and that they are unnecessarily fearful of any bad event, like a fire, is not a legal argument. Indeed, by emphasizing these emotional arguments, the applicant gives them further currency.

Speaking against residents you are supposed to be helping seems not to be a winning strategy, and it probably will not help win a legal argument.

We don’t want BESS in anyone’s backyard. Put a needed BESS installation where it will do no harm.

We do fear for our families’ safety. We do fear a damaging and life-threatening fire. But citizens have fought and will continue to fight that fear.

We will stay organized. We will continue to uncover facts about the downside of BESS in any residential community. We will continue to expose error and half-truths.

We will assist our elected officials in their task to keep us safe. Common sense, morality, and consciousness for all will succeed.

In my opinion, BESS, as currently configured, will not go into a residential community.

In my opinion, the applicant will threaten to sue or indeed sue the town.

In my opinion, he will lose.

Steve Crispinelli

Hampton Bays