EnviroPolitics Blog

Fears of massive battery fires spark opposition to energy storage

Chris Linsmayer, Key Capture Energy Public Affairs Manager, discusses the company’s large lithium battery energy storage system on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025, in Blasdell, N.Y., which can power 15,000 homes for two hours during outages or periods of high demand. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

By The Associated Press

Increasingly, large arrays of lithium-ion batteries are being connected to the electrical grids around the U.S. to store power that can be discharged during periods of high demand.

However, as more energy storage is added, residents in some places are pushing back due to fears that the systems will catch fire, as a massive facility in California did earlier this year.

Proponents argue that state-of-the-art battery energy storage systems are safe; however, more localities are enacting moratoriums.

“We’re not guinea pigs for anybody … we are not going to experiment, we’re not going to take risk,” said Michael McGinty, the mayor of Island Park, New York, which passed a moratorium in July after a storage system was proposed near the village line.

Michael McGinty, the mayor of Island Park, New York, which passed a moratorium in July after a storage system was proposed near the village line.

At least a few dozen localities around the United States have moved to temporarily block the development of big battery systems in recent years.

Long Island, where the power grid could get a boost in the next few years as offshore wind farms come online, has been a hotbed of activism, even drawing attention recently from the Trump administration. Opponents there got a boost in August when Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin visited New York to complain that the state was rushing approvals of sites to meet “delusional” green power goals — a claim state officials deny.

Battery growth spurt

Battery energy storage systems that suck up cheap power during periods of low demand, then discharge it at a profit during periods of high demand, are considered critical with the rise of intermittent energy sources such as wind and solar.

Known by the acronym BESS, the systems can make grids more reliable and have been credited with reducing blackouts. A large battery system might consist of rows of shipping containers in a fenced lot, with the containers holding hundreds of thousands of cells.

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Stymied: Farmers attempt to make EPA regulate PFAS in biosolids

The ruling comes amid ongoing questions about how to handle contamination from upstream sources.

By Jacob Wallace, Waste Dive

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Monday that attempted to force the U.S. EPA to regulate contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in sewage sludge. The suit, brought by farmers and public health groups last year, is one of several seeking to address growing concerns about contamination from the family of chemicals collectively called PFAS.

More than half of sewage sludge produced in the U.S. is applied on agricultural land as fertilizer, according to EPA data. The rest is composted with other organic material or sent to landfills and incinerators for disposal. The question of what to do with the material, which can be contaminated by upstream sources such as manufacturing plants and mills, has become more pressing as farmers fear that contaminated sludge can ruin their livestock or crops.

In Johnson County, Texas, farmers allege that their land was contaminated by the spreading of biosolids on a neighboring plot. The farmers, who brought the case against the EPA, allege that some of their animals had tested with PFAS levels hundreds of times the limits set by states like Michigan and Maine to protect public health. They argued that the EPA has a responsibility under the Clean Water Act to regulate harmful PFAS chemicals in sewage sludge, and that it has avoided doing so despite being aware of health risks.

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Bankrupt recycling company sticks Pa with tons of artificial turf

By Barbara Laker and David Gambacorta, Philadelphia Inquirer

It was supposed to be Pennsylvania’s Green Dream.

Re-Match, a Denmark-based recycling company, had planned to open what it said would be the first artificial turf recycling facility in the United States — in a Schuylkill County factory by the end of 2024.

Environmentalists were overjoyed. Lab tests have shown that artificial turf has contained PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, for decades. The so-called forever chemicals — which are found in an array of products, including firefighting gear and nonstick cookware — don’t break down in the environment and have been linked by the EPA to cancer, asthma, thyroid disease, and decreased immunity to fight infections.

But Re-Match’s recycling dream will never be realized in Pennsylvania, and as a result, tons of chemical-laden turf pose an ongoing environmental threat with no easy solution.

In June, the company filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, bringing to an end to a company whose arrival in Pennsylvania was once celebrated by top elected officials.

Re-Match had, in recent years, stored 11,000 tons of decaying turf rolls in three locations across the state, including a farm in Nicholson, Wyoming County, where nearly 6,000 tons of old turf sit on dirt fields. The turf, once meant to be recycled, now faces an uncertain future.

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63 million pounds! That’s a lot of scraps diverted to NY food banks

NEW YORK (WBNG) — In recognition of Hunger Action Month and New York Climate Week, Governor Kathy Hochul announced a milestone for a program that helps feed New Yorkers while reducing pollution that contributes to climate change.

The Feeding New York State network reached a record 63 million-pound collection milestone, as part of an ongoing New York State Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling Law.

Feeding New York sources food for New York food banks in several ways, including salvaging perfectly edible food that may be slightly damaged, such as cans or boxes with dents or superficial cosmetic damage.

The Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling law helps reduce waste and climate-altering emissions caused by decomposing food in landfills.

According to the Law, starting Jan. 1, 2027, all businesses and institutions that generate an annual average of 1 ton of wasted food per week must:

Donate excess edible food
Recycle all remaining food scraps if they are within 50 miles of an organics recycling site.

Feeding New York also receives funding from the Department of Environmental Protection to encourage public participation and assist with food collection efforts.

Since 2018, the DEC has provided over $10 million in funding to the food banks.

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On again, off again Trump is off again on 2 NJ offshore wind projets

By Wayne Parry, Associated Press

The administration of President Donald Trump, which halted an offshore wind farm in New York and New Jersey, then allowed it to resume, is moving against it again.

In a federal court filing Tuesday, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said it intends to reconsider the prior approval of the Empire Wind 2 offshore wind project granted under the Biden administration.

Empire Wind, located off the coast of Long Branch in New Jersey and Long Beach in Long Island, New York, is the only offshore wind project being built off New Jersey’s coast following a string of project cancellations or indefinite postponements over the past two years.

Save Long Beach Island press release

And the same agency says it is reconsidering approval of the Atlantic Shores offshore wind project in New Jersey, which is all but dead in the water after the federal government revoked a critical clean air permit, without which the project cannot be built.

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Judge rules radioactive water can be released into the Hudson River

*The former Indian Point Energy Center, located in Buchanan, NY, some 25 miles north of New York City. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Tony Fischer*

By Frank Brill, EnviroPolitics Editor

A federal judge (U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas) ruled on Wednesday, September 24, that New York’s “Save the Hudson” law is invalid. The state law, enacted in 2023, banned the discharge of radioactive wastewater (including water containing tritium) into the Hudson River.

The court found that the state law interferes with federal authority over nuclear matters, specifically radiological safety and waste disposal, which is regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

Holtec International, the company overseeing the decommissioning of the Indian Point nuclear plant, had challenged the New York law. The ruling allows Holtec to discharge treated radioactive wastewater, provided it remains within federal standards/regulations.

Local officials and environmental groups strongly oppose the plan. They warn that the ruling undermines decades of effort to rehabilitate the Hudson, and risks harm to ecosystems, drinking water, and public trust.

Some data points:

• Holtec claims the discharges will comply with federal safety limits.

• Opponents point out that tritium is a radioactive form of hydrogen that can be challenging because it behaves chemically like water, making removal difficult.

• The judge’s ruling underscores that federal law preempts state law when the state law “categorically precludes” a federally accepted disposal method.

Key legal & technical issues

Issue	Description / Tension
Federal preemption	The core of the court’s decision is that the state law is preempted by federal law — states can’t override or block federally licensed/disposed nuclear operations.
Regulatory authority & safety standards	The NRC has exclusive authority in many areas related to nuclear safety, including radiological releases during decommissioning. The question is whether the proposed discharge truly stays within those limits.
Nature of tritium / radioactive water	Tritium (a radioactive isotope of hydrogen) is difficult or impossible to remove from water in many cases, since its chemistry is nearly identical to ordinary water. That means many strategies focus on dilution and monitoring rather than filtration.
Appeal and delays	It’s likely the state or environmental groups will appeal. Meanwhile, Holtec’s decommissioning timeline, budget, and engineering plans may be affected by continued litigation or regulatory scrutiny.

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