Letters

So now the editors of The Southampton Press are tired of the ongoing battle over the siting of a battery energy storage systems facility. They think it is time to “Change the Subject” [Editorial, February 29].

Their sanctimonious scolding to Hampton Bays suggests that the residents need to be noble and more American. They would like us to get with the program and pull our heads out of the sand.

What rock are the editors crawling out from under?

How about the residents of Hampton Bays give the editors a quick recap of some of what has transpired:

The Southampton Town Planning Board and the Town Board issued negative declarations to an untried BESS developer without completely understanding what was being proposed. Negative declarations seem to be given out like candy in Southampton, but try to get one rescinded in order to do a proper full environmental impact study and it is like trying to rescind the 10 Commandments.

In June 2023, the Planning Board, frustrated by the inadequate information provided by the developer, tossed the BESS “hot potato” back to the Town Board.

Hampton Bays residents continued to meet, in a most American fashion, at Town Hall to convincingly express their concerns.

At each meeting, Hampton Bays residents agreed that green solutions are imperative but the location was problematic for many reasons, including people’s homes and safety, our canal and bays, emergency response, noise pollution, evacuation considerations, etc.

In May and June, fires started in three locations in New York State. Governor Kathy Hochul decided that maybe it was time to look at fire and safety issues. Preliminary findings have recently been published.

In July, the former town supervisor honestly admitted that he would not want to live near a BESS. (And anyone who still says they would be happy to live within a few hundred feet of a large BESS containing 720 lithium batteries is lying.)

In August, a six-month moratorium was enacted to do some much needed research and reassessment of zoning.

During this six-month moratorium, from September 2023 through February 2024, the town did nothing. The residents of Hampton Bays continued to show up at Town Hall and very civilly asked why nothing was happening.

Guess what? Hampton Bays is getting tired of this, too. We want to move on with our lives, except we, unlike the editors, have skin in the game. We simply want the right siting.

Has The Press even considered doing a human interest piece from the perspective of the people who have reasonably questioned this poorly planned project. No? I thought not. Perhaps it is just easier for The Press to belittle a community who care about where they live.

Brigid Maher

Hampton Bays