The Suffolk County Water Authority is asking East Hampton Village residents to conserve water following discovery of contaminated wells, for which the 2023 fire at a lithium-ion energy storage system at a Cove Hollow Road substation is the suspected culprit.
East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen, referring to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances known as PFAS and “forever chemicals,” said at the village board’s June 17 meeting that “we’re afraid that it’s going to be now coming into the village jurisdiction.”
Around two million gallons of water were used to extinguish that fire, “not from our Fire Department, but from an internal extinguishing system,” the mayor said. “A lot of that water ran into the ground.”
At a June 15 meeting with officials from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, East Hampton Town, and the Suffolk County Health Department, “one of my questions at the meeting . . . was, why are we allowing the facility to remain open, because there are no mitigation procedures in place,” the mayor said. “Should there be another fire, we’re going to be looking at the same exact results. That’s clearly an issue, in my mind.”
A map depicting the village, the surrounding town jurisdiction, the battery energy storage system, or BESS, and a Water Authority wellfield was shown. “They found high levels of PFAS, which is that forever chemical, in the drinking water at that location,” the mayor said. Two of four wells there were contaminated and have been shut down, he said, while the others are not currently operational and their use is restricted. But in July and August, “they may have to be, because of the water usage,” the mayor said. “So the Water Authority is asking everybody to conserve water as irrigation and things like that.”
For residents whose houses are connected to the S.C.W.A., “the water that’s coming into your house is fine,” the mayor said. “The concerning part of this is, anybody who’s on a private well in that area needs to contact the Suffolk County Health Department,” which he said will test the water free of charge.
Around 30 residences in the affected area have a private well, the mayor said, and the Water Authority has “knocked on people’s doors and they’re working on that each day. Hopefully, you’ll be notified and you can have your well tested.”
“We would encourage anybody who’s on a private well to seek out connecting to the Suffolk County Water Authority as soon as possible,” the mayor said. “I’m not trying to scare anyone, but this is a very serious condition and it should be addressed as soon as possible.”
