Resident accuses town of delaying groundwater testing after battery‑storage fire

Sai Canella told the town board during the public comment period that she provided detailed analysis and documentation in January 2024 showing that the May 31, 2023 fire at the East Hampton Energy Storage Center likely contaminated groundwater with PFAS/PAS chemicals and that the town failed to test wells at that time. "I blame you for unnecessarily exposing residents to harmful PAS contaminants by failing to test the groundwater 2 and 1/2 years ago," Canella said, urging a "full transparent investigation" before the facility is recommissioned.

Supervisor Burke Gonzalez did not respond during public comment, saying the session is reserved for remarks and offering to discuss the matter offline; she noted an update would appear later in her liaison report. The board also pointed listeners to a weekly, multi‑agency task force the town convened after recent detections in county wells.

Canella described technical steps she said she provided to the town, including an estimate of tens of thousands of lithium‑ion cells in the facility, the duration of sprinkler runoff during the fire, and the potential for flame decomposition products and firefighting water to carry PFAS‑type chemicals into a sole‑source aquifer. She asked how the town would explain to families if long‑term illnesses result.

Supervisor Gonzalez’s liaison report later confirmed the town has convened weekly calls with state and county agencies, including the state Department of Environmental Conservation and Suffolk County Department of Health Services; officials said county health will conduct door‑to‑door testing of private wells in the immediate area and urged residents on private wells to contact the county for testing and information.

The board did not take action or make a formal commitment at the meeting to specific sampling beyond ongoing task‑force coordination. The town’s planning and health correspondence referenced in public comments was not read into the record during the session.