Background: 

The proposal is to install high power commercial lithium batteries at the current location of Global, an oil company located at the corner of Glenwood Road and Shore Road (North-East corner.)  The objective of these installations is for the batteries to store energy to meet the increasing demand for electricity.  As such, the stored energy would be sold to energy companies like LIPA, National Grid, and others.                                                         

The Concern: 

These types of lithium batteries have a tendency to overheat and catch fire. This is the database, established by others, to track the fires caused by these utility batteries around the world:  Bess Failure Incident Database - EPRI Storage Wiki . The Civics have held several meetings with the Nassau County Fire Department, local Volunteer Fire Departments, and experts in the field. They have advised us that these fires are not only very difficult to control, but most often can only be allowed to burn until they expire. There currently is no way to extinguish these fires, putting local volunteer firefighters at risk as well. To make matters worse, these fires require evacuations of densely populated areas, like Glenwood Landing, as the fires can emit toxic fumes. 

What Steps are the Civics Taking? The Civics have worked with the Town of Oyster Bay and the Town of North Hempstead to place moratoriums to temporarily block approval of permits to proceed with this project until proper research is conducted to identify  resolutions to the identified risks (i.e. fire). 

Status Update as of Mar-24-2025:

There are currently three local moratoriums in place by local municipalities (moratoriums temporarily do not allow for approval of work permits), Town of Oyster Bay, Town of North Hempstead, and Town of Hempstead.  The Civics have been actively working with these municipalities to encourage these moratoriums and to take further steps to completely negate these installations.  

ALSO OF IMPORTANCE: TOWN OF OYSTER BAY IS HOLDING A MEETING ON APRIL 8TH – 10 AM TO PROPOSE EXTENDING THE MORATORIUM ON LITHIUM BATTERY INSTALLATIONS – 54 AUDREY AVENUE OYSTER BAY, NY – PLEASE BE SURE TO ATTEND AND BE HEARD!

Next Steps:

We will continue to partner with the Towns of Oyster Bay and North Hempstead to ensure all risks are identified and mitigated before these projects proceed,  and oppose this project until it no longer creates a significant risk to our community.
 

We will  keep everyone updated as this project proceeds.