Growing Opposition to Lithium Battery Factories Across US Over “Environmentally Dirty Process”
Proposals to build lithium-ion battery manufacturing factories and battery energy storage system (BESS) plants are being debated before local planning boards across the country, with most being enthusiastically endorsed by state and federal officials, including in at least one instance, President Joe Biden himself.
But while the factories and plants are key components in meeting Biden’s green energy goal of a 100 percent decarbonized electrical grid by 2035, the proposals face mounting opposition in some areas from prospective neighbors concerned about the “environmentally dirty process” required to build lithium batteries and to store energy, which critics say emits toxic chemicals degrading ambient air quality, causes fires, and presents a high risk of explosion.
“Li-ion batteries have the potential to create pressurized explosions within explosion-proof or flameproof battery enclosures,” a 2018 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health research brief documents.
As battery storage projects, of BESS systems, grow larger, fears about their explosive potential are growing correspondingly in residential areas near proposed development sites.
In April 2019, an internal failure within a lithium battery cell in an Arizona lithium-ion battery BESS exploded, severely injuring four firefighters. A September 2022 fire at a California BESS caused a daylong shelter-in-place advisory for the nearby community.
In addition to the environmental and safety risks, opponents say the technologies involved in building electric vehicle batteries actually require more energy and electricity than manufacturing internal combustion engines.
Nevertheless, battery factory and BESS plant building proposals are being proposed and approved nationwide with increasing frequency.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported in December 2022 that at least 23 large-scale battery projects, ranging from 250 megawatts to 650 megawatts, have been approved nationwide and will be operating by 2025.
Meanwhile, BESS plants are on the planning board in California, West Virginia, Arizona, and New Mexico, with one in New York and two in Alberta, Canada, being withdrawn or denied since January.
Local groups in Colorado and Arizona are challenging zoning and other permits necessary for battery manufacturing plants, while grassroots opponents in Maryland are battling to stop a utility BESS project. Staten Island residents, with help from state lawmakers and congressional representatives, forced another BESS proposal to be withdrawn.
Electric vehicles charge at a charging station in Irvine, Calif., on Jan. 28, 2022. (Paul Bersebach, MediaNews Group, Orange County Register/Getty Images)Colorado: Opponents Use Nextdoor App
The same day a faulty lithium-ion battery fire in the Bronx in New York took approximately 200 firefighters to fight, Amprius Technologies on March 6 announced plans to build a $190 million, 775,000-square-foot lithium-ion battery plant in Brighton, Colorado.
Brighton neighbors are speaking out against the California-based company’s plans to create what would be Colorado’s largest battery factory, but their opposition is unlikely to derail a deal that drew bipartisan applause when it was announced.
Colorado legislators, Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, and Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), a former governor, all support the proposed factory, which Amprius Technologies says will create more than 330 jobs that will pay an average salary of more than $65,000.
But prospective neighbors say the factory, set to open by 2025, is across a road from a residential neighborhood and within a mile of multiple schools, the Platte Valley Medical Center, and the city’s water plant.
Residents say carcinogenic chemicals and flammable liquids used to make lithium-ion batteries make the factory hazardous to their health and to the environment.
Using the social media app, Nextdoor, neighbors have rallied opposition to the proposed factory, filing a petition signed by 300 residents urging the Brighton City Council to deny a precursor zoning change that Amprius Technologies needs to begin building batteries.
Neighbor opposition is unlikely to stop the project. Adams County has provided the company with a slate of incentives, and the Brighton City Council has approved $929,000 in use and property-tax rebates.
Amprius said it chose Brighton over sites in Texas and Georgia because it already has a 1.3-million-square-foot building on it with “a structural layout ideal for a gigawatt-hour scale lithium-ion battery factory.”
It said fears about potential health hazards emanating from the plant are unfounded and that it will “comply with all federal, state, and local environmental, health, and safety regulatory requirements.”
Amprius Technologies CEO Dr. Kang Sun said the company coordinated extensively with the Colorado Economic Development Commission, Adams County, and the city “to meet the substantial market demand for our breakthrough silicon anode lithium-ion technology.”
The plant will have the build-out manufacturing capacity of 10 gigawatt hours of energy.
Amprius’ $190 million investment includes a $50 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Manufacturing and Supply Chains made available under 2021’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
“We need more batteries to power the future, and now we will be manufacturing more of them right here in Colorado,” Polis said in a March statement. “We are excited to welcome Amprius to Colorado, bringing over 300 new good-paying jobs, and joining Colorado’s innovative and collaborative business community.”
It is uncertain when the proposed zoning change will go before the city council. On April 15, Amprius signed a formal lease with the landowner contingent on a zoning change being secured by July 1, 2024.
Arizona: Neighbors Make a Pitch
Residents near a proposed 1 million-square-foot LG Energy Solution lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant near Queen Creek, Arizona, have filed a petition calling on local officials to deny the project, which would be the largest stand-alone battery factory in North America.
“The creation of electric car batteries is an environmentally dirty process. Activities generally produce emissions from particulate matter and air pollutants from fossil fuel combustion such as greenhouse gases and nitrogen oxide. Lithium batteries and their production entails high CO2 emissions,” states the petition, which had nearly 4,000 signatures as of April 23.
When comparing with manufacturing of internal combustion engines, the petition maintains that “emissions of greenhouse gases, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and particulate matter from [lithium battery] production is almost double compared to the emissions from internal combustion production. This is largely due to the high energy demands required for battery production.”
After receiving approval of a precursor development agreement between the company and the city of Queen Creek and Pinal County on April 19, South Korea-based LG Energy Solution announced it would build its $5.5 billion manufacturing plant that will employ 2,800 on a 650-acre site southeast of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.
“Our decision to invest in Arizona demonstrates our strategic initiative to continue expanding our global production network, which is already the largest in the world, to further advance our innovative and top-quality products in scale and with speed,” LG Energy Solution CEO Kwon Young Soo said in a statement.
LG Energy Solution’s proposal was lauded by Biden, who praised it as “the largest investment in a single battery facility in North America” made feasible “because of my economic plan.”
“For far too long,” he continued in a prepared statement, “we outsourced jobs and manufacturing, and imported goods, while the future was made elsewhere. Because of my Investing in America agenda, we’re finally making the future in America and Arizona again—and tackling the climate crisis at the same time.”
Despite the presidential endorsement, local opponents aren’t backing down. Spearheaded by ‘Concerned Citizens in San Tan Valley,’ they are meeting April 25 at a baptism church and planning to attend the Pinal County Board of Supervisors meeting on April 27.
Maryland: Two-Year Battle Won’t Stop BESS Plant
Utility company Pepco plans to build a 1-megawatt energy storage plant that will include lithium batteries near Oxon Hill, Maryland.
Nearby residents have unsuccessfully lobbied the Prince George’s County Board of Supervisors to deny permits and approvals for the project for more than two years.
Opponents maintain the county and Pepco have not addressed their concerns about the safety of the operation’s “untested technology” and that federal, state, and local officials appear more interested in checking “clean energy boxes” than in addressing impacts on nearby communities.
Neighbors say a day care center and schools are within a short distance of the plant, that local fire departments are ill-equipped to deal with lithium battery fires and chemical explosions, and that Pepco has not provided a transparent hazard mitigation analysis.
In a statement, Pepco maintains it considered alternate sites that also faced opposition from prospective neighbors. It chose the Livingston Road site for its Battery Energy Storage Project in 2021 because it houses an existing substation that “is expected to exceed its capacity in 2027.”
The plant “will allow Pepco to defer the need to build a new substation in the area, which helps keep customer rates affordable,” Pepco said. It “exceeds current Prince George’s County and Maryland codes and will help ensure the highest level of safety.”
The utility company said it will establish a training program for fighting lithium fires with local fire and rescue agencies. The Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department said in a statement it has discussed “implementation of a training plan” with Pepco but that no start date has been set.
Despite opposition, the project is pushing forward. Former Maryland comptroller Peter Franchot, who was defeated by Gov. Wes Moore in the 2022 Democratic gubernatorial primary, in a March letter to the Maryland Public Service Commission said residents have valid concerns that should be addressed.
“The research remains inconclusive on the safety, environmental, and health impacts of this clean energy technology, especially when such a facility is built near residential or high-traffic communities,” Franchot said. “As the residents and businesses who will be directly impacted by this project—none of whom will directly benefit from the energy stored at this facility—it would be unconscionable for this project to proceed until the concerns have been adequately addressed.”
New York: A Win for the Neighbors
New Leaf Energy in January officially withdrew its plans to build a 120-megawatt lithium-ion BESS plant in Bulls Head on Staten Island in New York City after residents and community leaders raised objections.
New Leaf’s BESS plant was to include six large-scale rechargeable lithium-ion battery systems manufactured by Tesla, each one capable of storing up to 20 megawatt-hours of electricity. It would store energy during periods of low demand that Con Edison could tap into during peak hours.
Bulls Head residents were alarmed by its placement, in the parking lot of Our Lady of Pity Catholic Church, and too close to six schools.
Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo (R-Staten Island) spearheaded residents’ opposition to the BESS operation and said state lawmakers would look at state land-use statutes to ensure they are allowed in residential areas.
“Although these facilities are beneficial to our distribution grid, due to risk of fire and exposure to toxic chemicals, this has no place in school or residential zones. This project lacked concern for public safety and common sense, and my office will always stand up to protect their children and neighborhoods. I will move forward with introducing legislation at the state level to prevent these situations from occurring in sensitive zones in the future,” he said.
“While the battery storage facilities may be the future of energy infrastructure, they don’t belong in residential communities,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) said in a statement. “The plan to place one at Our Lady of Pity’s parking lot was inappropriate. I’m pleased New Leaf has rescinded its proposal and I will continue to support Assemblyman Pirozzolo’s efforts to stop others from potentially hazardous placement in our community.”
New Leaf Emery’s operation would have been Staten Island’s third lithium-ion BESS plant. There is one in Eltingville, and NineDot Energy is building one in Great Kills that will be operational by year’s end.
Local planners in 2022 denied a proposed BESS operation in Great Kills because the 6,878-square-foot fenced-in site was adjacent to homes and retail businesses, including a bakery.
