Suffolk to do testing over fears that toxins from plant fire could reach aquifer

With preliminary results of private water wells showing high levels of a "forever chemical" near a battery-storage plant, Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine this week said the county would begin more extensive testing because of concerns that toxins from a 2023 fire at the site in East Hampton could migrate to the deeper aquifer. 

"We're concerned about the overall aquifer," Romaine said in an interview Tuesday, noting the county had already begun testing of private wells. "If the well fields are affected, we're concerned it could affect the aquifer. We're conducting tests to see how affected the aquifer is." 

The county has been visiting homeowners with private wells around the site, and seven of a potential 26 wells have been tested. Preliminary results indicate the presence of PFAS substances known as PFPrA and PFOS at more than 1,000 parts per billion, according to a source, well above drinking-water standards. 

Earlier this month, Newsday reported the Suffolk County Water Authority filed a federal lawsuit against the owners of the utility-size battery energy storage facility in East Hampton, charging the energy companies contaminated nearby water wells in their effort to suppress a 2023 thermal-runaway fire at the plant. The state also is investigating.

Discovery of toxins in nearby water wells allegedly from the battery fire forced the authority to shutter two East Hampton wells at the height of the Hamptons peak season and to limit the use of two others. The toxins will result in millions of dollars in expenses to treat or replace the wells, according to the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Central Islip.

The wells are 2,500 feet south of the Cove Hollow Road battery facility, which has been rebuilt and back in operation since July 2024. The site in May 2023 experienced battery fire that released at least 2.2 million gallons of toxin-soaked soot into an uncontained area around the site.

Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2023 released a statement saying "no harmful levels of toxins" were found at the East Hampton facility and two other sites that experienced fires in 2023, though the DEC did not order the site owners to undertake groundwater tests at East Hampton. A state spill investigation was closed in 2024.

This week, water-storage tanks with lines attached to the ground have appeared at the National Grid-owned site as state and local agencies attempt to gauge the full extent of a toxic plume the local water company says has contaminated four drinking water wells. National Grid said the tanks are unrelated to the battery.

East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen said he recently visited the site and photographed trucks containing water tanks, but said he’s yet to receive an explanation about the equipment and its purpose.

National Grid said the "water trailer and demineralized tanks" were for use with a gas-turbine generating plant at the site and unrelated to the battery. The system reduces emissions from the small gas-powered generator, said National Grid spokeswoman Molly Gilson. The battery system is "not connected to this equipment," she added, noting technician trucks "regularly visit the site for operations and maintenance." 

A spokesman for NextEra didn’t respond to a request for comment about the water tanks or the cleanup. 

The water authority has created a website to inform residents about the plume and its impact at www.scwa.com/easthamptonbattery. In a letter, authority chief executive Jeff Szabo indicated that the out of service wells were putting pressure on the system. 

"We need all residents, especially those in East Hampton, to conserve water to maintain an adequate supply throughout our system," he wrote.

Dubois said the authority continues to test the water to check for impacts.

Larsen, meanwhile, took exception to the suggestion last week by East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez that officials were examining another event as a possible cause of the contamination. During a town board meeting at which she was challenged by a resident for not testing the water previously, Burke-Gonzalez said the investigation of the plume "is examining more than one possibility."

Burke-Gonzalez said she had been told the DEC is examining the site of a 2005 small plane crash at which firefighting foam containing forever chemicals was also used.

Larsen said he’d been told state officials are not considering that site, which he visited when he was police chief, as a possible cause, noting it’s several thousand feet to the east of the contaminated drinking water wells and an unlikely source of that contamination.

Dubois declined to comment on the plane-crash site and its possible impact on water quality. 

A spokesman for Burke-Gonzalez didn’t respond to questions about whether the supervisor would order new tests for wells around the crash site.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation in a statement said it will “investigate all potential sources of PFAS in the area.” DEC expects to finalize a work plan and begin its field investigation “in the coming weeks,” and finish it by late July or early August. A final report is due out by the fall.

At present, DEC said, “There is no groundwater remediation being performed at the site.”

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.