Letters

During the July 20 Southampton Town Board meeting, three words came into focus: moratorium, education, compromise.

The meeting began with members shuffling papers like high school students. Cyndi McNamara stared ahead, hoping this event would be over and she could go do something good.

The condescending comment about the “fear” of town residents about battery energy storage systems was repeated, as expected. Gets old.

The board spent time discussing BESS. Something best done before picking a site for it.

During this titillating educational process, we had digressions.

Water stored in a tower and released runs downhill and creates enough pressure that turbines can create electricity, like a dam does? Damn. Seems to have something to do with BESS instead of tall towers.

It’s often necessary to place utility equipment in a residential area, and it’s prudent, sometimes, to change zoning for this. So changing rules for BESS is okay. Huh.

Putting a BESS facility far away from a substation is expensive. And in this lovely area, we have a nearby substation. Eureka! The delta between near and far? TBD. The value of a safe, soundly sleeping nearby community? TBD.

Help is on its way. Bureaucratic hurdles and government processes taken care of, and we have a moratorium. And that is a very good thing. Education to further hoi polloi education, the fascinating suggestion, made more than once, that an exhibition of BESS batteries and how they work be presented. Repurposed audio-visual aids provided. A video of smiling firemen getting into their hazmat suits and dousing a conflagration shown.

Board-friendly experts then brought to meetings to educate on the efficacy and safety of BESS.

We believe the heretofore disregarded community’s expert testimony will continue to be ignored.

Compromise, defined as “an agreement or a settlement of a dispute that is reached by each side making concessions.”

We concede that BESS is needed. We will never agree that it be near a residential community.

The board’s concession? Perhaps that BESS stays where it is and through education we will learn that a smaller BESS is okay. Nope.

But we do concede that the moratorium is a good thing. The time it offers will allow the community to find the best law firm and investigators to possibly bring a lawsuit against those responsible for dereliction of duty, ignoring public consultation, and changing rules to facilitate BESS in their chosen location.

We do not know if any of this is criminal. However, we do know that putting BESS where suggested is criminal. And, of course, our legal representation will have ample time to “follow the money.” Got Google Maps? 40.88971° N, 72.49712° W.

Canal, highways, houses, bays, people.

Steve Crispinelli

Hampton Bays