SUFFOLK CLOSEUP: Certification Of Lithium-Ion Batteries Legislation Passes In Legislature

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

The Suffolk County Legislature this month unanimously passed a measure “to add a certification requirement to the sale of lithium-ion storage batteries for electric-assist bicycles and other powered mobility devices.”  

The certification that their electrical systems are safe would need to come from an “NTRL” (National Testing Recognized Laboratory) of the federal government’s OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) or from “UL” (Underwriters Laboratories) or by “such other safety standard…established by rule in consultation with the fire department.”

The author of the bill is Legislator Dominick Thorne of Patchogue who for nearly 30 years has been active in fire and emergency services.

County Executive Ed Romaine said after its passage at a legislative session June 4^th in Hauppauge: “I look forward to signing this measure into law.” 

Thorne said: “Public safety remains my number one priority and we are acting in the face of a clear danger before a single Suffolk County fatality has occurred as a result of potential lithium-ion tragedies” such as have “already” occurred “in the tri-state area.”

Of great concern, said Thorne at a press conference at which he was joined by area fire chiefs and members of the county’s Fire Rescue and Emergency Services operation, are faulty lithium-ion batteries imported from overseas and sold cheaply. “You may see one of these batteries for $5 and think, ‘What a deal,’” he said. “However, these batteries can ignite and you can lose everything—your family, your house, your loved ones, your neighbors.”

The measure, to be an addition to the Suffolk County Code, would be enforced by the county fire marshal, the Suffolk County Police Department, town and village police forces and local code enforcement officers. The penalties, it says, for the first violation is a “fine of not more than one thousand dollars” and “for each subsequent violation…on a different day within two years,” a penalty “of not more than two thousand dollars.”

An essay online by professors and researchers at Clemson University in South Carolina about how “lithium-ion battery fires are a growing public safety concern” says: “In today’s electronic age, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are ubiquitous. Compared with the lead-acid versions that have dominated the battery market for decades, lithium-ion batteries can charge faster and store more energy for the same amount of weight. These devices make our electronic gadgets and electric cars lighter and longer-lasting—but they also have disadvantages. They contain a lot of energy, and if they catch fire, they burn until all of that stored energy is released. A sudden release of huge amounts of energy can lead to explosions that threaten lives and property.”

In a statement released by Thorne’s office, Scott W. Davonski, executive director of the Suffolk County Fire Academy, said the New York City Fire Department last year “reported 268 fires involving lithium-ion batteries, 150 injuries and 18 deaths.”

Joseph Fagan, president of the Fire Marshals Association of Suffolk County, said: “While the proliferation of lithium-ion battery technology and electric mobility devices brings about numerous benefits, it also introduces significant safety concerns. No party knows these concerns better than the fire service, be it the firefighter who struggles to extinguish a battery fire, a fire inspector who observes unsafe battery storage in a building, or a fire investigator who must investigate and document the damage caused by a fire. This resolution provides our members with a much-needed enforcement tool to prohibit the sale of unregulated lithium-ion batteries throughout the county.”

The Thorne measure says “there is very little government regulation regarding the safety of these lithium-ion batteries” and “it is the responsibility of the County of Suffolk to protect the health and safety of its residents by requiring the sale, lease, or rental of only…certified storage batteries for powered bicycles and powered mobility devices to prevent them from potentially catching fire or exploding.”

Are there alternatives to lithium-ion batteries?

I put that question to Google and there appears to be several possibilities.

A battery manufacturer, Alysm Energy, in Woburn, Massachusetts declares on its website: “The global market for electric scooters, motorbikes, motorcycles and three-wheelers is set to triple by 2030. Today, over sixty million are sold every year, and most run on fossil fuels. Battery electric models are in demand, but buyers are extremely cost-sensitive and concerned about battery fires. Lithium-ion batteries found in many two wheelers regularly catch fire due to poor heat dissipation or overcharging—a major problem in cities such as New York…”

“Our low-cost, non-flammable batteries are poised to be an ideal solution for the two and three-wheeler market, maximizing performance and profit margins while greatly reducing the risk of fires.”

The company gives details about: aqueous metal oxide batteries, lithium-sulfur batteries, solid-state lithium batteries, sodium-ion batteries, ion-air batteries, flow batteries, nickel-hydrogen batteries and liquid metal batteries.  

An article on alternatives in the British magazine, New Scientist, says: “Unfortunately, there isn’t going to be a single solution to the problem of how to replace lithium-ion batteries, which is why people have been dreaming up all sorts of variations…” 

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY at Old Westbury and the author of six books.

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP: Congestion Pricing

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

A Suffolk County lawyer, Jack Lester, is the lead attorney in a major lawsuit challenging the congestion pricing plan for Manhattan that was to take effect on June 30th—until, on June 5^th, New York Governor Kathy Hochul suddenly directed the MTA “to indefinitely pause the program.” 

Last week, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander also announced a lawsuit to overturn the governor’s action. He said at a pro-plan rally that Hochul “took a disastrously wrong turn, so we’re here today to steer our shared future back on track.” 

But even if the Hochul order is overturned, the congestion pricing plan cannot be subject to simply a “pause,” says Lester. For decades, he has been prominent in New York City in practicing what he has termed “community law.” 

As an extensive profile of him in The New York Times began: “When 2,000 new windows started imploding in Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village last fall, the residents notified the super. Then they got really serious and called in Jack L. Lester. Mr. Lester is a lawyer, not a glazier, but he does do window cases—and just about any other local issue that stirs neighborhood passions…He is perhaps the busiest lawyer in what he calls the field of community law. Aggrieved residents turn to him as a legal Mr. Fixit.”

Lester closed his Manhattan office several years ago and now practices from his office in East Hampton, where he lives. As to getting involved as lead attorney in a lawsuit in U.S. District Court, he said folks from the city requested his aid—a frequent event.

A main fault in the congestion pricing plan, Lester says, is that it would charge a fee for drivers who enter Manhattan south of 60^th Street—$15 for those operating a car, $24 for a small truck, $36 for a large truck—without regard to whether they are wealthy or just making it. “It would be a regressive tax,” he says. 

Also, the statement by Hochul in halting the plan—that it would devastate the economy—underlines why, says Lester, as his 57-page legal brief notes, by federal law the plan requires a full Environmental Impact Statement and under the New York State Administrative Procedure Act an “assessment on the impact on small businesses and job retention.” The claim has been there’d be “no significant impact. The governor’s statement throws that askew.” The reviews would “take years,” says Lester, and thus “this plan will never see the light of day.”

There are 49 plaintiffs in his lawsuit including seven members of the New York City Council,  State Assemblyman Michael Novakhov of Brooklyn, and what are described as “grassroots community-based organizations.”

Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine, a Republican, calls Hochul’s move “great news for hardworking Suffolk County families who must travel to Manhattan to make a living. With inflation making it harder every day for families to make ends meet, levying yet another tax on the backs of the working class is not the answer.”

It has been reported that a factor in what Hochul, a Democrat, did involves partisan politics, an effort to avoid displeasure of voters in areas adjacent to New York City including Suffolk County this year. Said an article in the publication The Economist: “Democrats, including Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leader in the House of Representatives, are worried about the congressional races in November on Long Island and in Westchester County, where voters are not happy about the pricing scheme. Republicans won key seats in those suburbs in 2022. Democrats do not want roadblocks in New York that could tip control of the House.”

Meanwhile, a huge amount of money has been spent already on the plan. Michael Killeman in a column in The New York Times wrote: “Without any Plan B, the governor sticks New York taxpayers with a roughly half-billion dollar tab for camera gantries and other equipment already installed to monitor vehicles entering Manhattan below 60^th Street.” 

 “It’s devastating news for transit riders and the environment,” says Kate Slevin of the Regional Plan Association about Hochul’s action. “The economy really relies on traffic moving.”

The congestion pricing plan for Manhattan would be the first in the United States. Singapore was the first to introduce congestion pricing in 1975 and since then cities including London, Stockholm and Milan have instituted such plans. 

The editorial board of The New York Times has been outraged by the Hochul move. In a June 8^th editorial, the board stated: “Nineteen days ago, Gov. Kathy Hochul…stood before an audience of world economic leaders and promised to transform mobility in New York City with a first-in-the-nation congestion-pricing system. The concept, she said, had stalled for 60 years because leaders feared a backlash from drivers set in their ways. But, she said, ‘if we’re serious about making cities more livable, we must get over that.’ It was a strong and forthright defense of an imaginative policy that would charge most drivers $15 for entering Manhattan’s densely crowded core. On Wednesday, Ms. Hochul abruptly disposed of her steadfast promise with a surprise announcement: She no longer believed congestion pricing was the right idea for the moment….because she had become concerned it would hamper Manhattan’s economic recovery from the pandemic. It was a flimsy excuse for a grievous misjudgment. In one stroke, Ms. Hochul had endangered a vital public policy that would have had huge benefits for New York’s environment and quality of life…”

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY/College at Old Westbury and the author of six books.   

Talking Turkey In St James

                                                   Talking Turkey

By June Capossela Kempf

A blood curdling scream tore through the air as my neighbor, Fanny, ran around in her backyard, trying to escape the wrath of an angry creature, chasing her all around her property.

At first, I thought it was a goose, but then, as I got closer, I realized – this was something else. As it turned its menacing head, a distinctive orange wattle flapped in the wind, and then I knew it was a wild turkey, about to dig its sharp ugly beak into Fanny’s calf.

“Get in the house!” I yelled. I didn’t need to tell her twice, She darted through her back door like a rocket and slammed it shut before her attacker could get any closer.

With its intended target out of reach, the big bird turned away, skipped a few steps, spread out giant wings and flew up on my roof.

Turkeys can fly?

Next thing I knew, phone calls and texts began rolling in. Neighbors warning me - “Do you know there’s a turkey on your roof?”

My friend Bonnie called to say that the turkey’s wingspan was so huge; it cast a shadow that blocked the sun from her window.

Its colors were vivid. Shimmering copper hues mixed with electric blues and browns were fully displayed as he cut a path through the air towards his destination. 

The only turkeys I ever encountered, before this, were found inside a turkey farm or sitting pretty on my Thanksgiving dinner table wearing cute little booties on each delicious drumstick. I never expected to see one flying around the neighborhood. 

So, I looked it up and learned that wild turkeys mainly live in wooded areas, don’t have their wings clipped and do fly short distances. My source of information came from the writings of Dr. Sunny Carran, a NY City Parks Department coordinator. She states that wild turkeys usually hang out within their flocks, but there were some extreme exceptions. 

Here we go.

My research confirmed that it is indeed strange for this bird to be wandering around all by itself. If one is alone, there are two serious possibilities that could account for this bird’s odd behavior. 

One, it’s a tom that has been banned from the flock because he is considered to be too low on the social ladder to be included in the group. He is ousted until he measures up in the pecking order – or it’s a hen that may have only been feeding, while searching for her lost brood that got separated from the nest. . Whatever, I bet it was a tom because of its brilliant coloring, but what do I know?

In either case, Tommy was not, at the moment in a very good mood especially after Fannie initially had tried to chase him away with a broom.

“Why did you do that?” I asked when she finally ventured out of her house.

“It was nibbling on my flowers,” she cried.  

Most likely, he was chomping on the bugs that were eating her plants - another tidbit of information that, this time, was supplied by Alexa.

Fannie may have had second thoughts about picking on a live turkey if she lived in a different age or culture where the turkey is regarded as an intelligent and spiritual entity. In these societies, they are honored as symbols of harmony and bountifulness. Mistreating a wandering turkey in another culture could result in serious consequences -including fines and imprisonment.  Furthermore, a lone turkey showing up at your door, is a rare sign of good fortune and prosperity. 

“Just let him be,” I advised Fannie.

Fannie was unimpressed.  She saw nothing to be gained from her experience. She talked to Fred, our mail carrier, who suffered the misfortune of an encounter with the winged wonder. He had to make a mad dash to his truck to get away from it. Luckily, he didn’t lose any junk mail in the melee.

“All the repellants the experts suggest - don’t work,” he raged. He too wouldn’t mind seeing this bird gobbled up by another predator.

Tom returned to my patio a few days later, appearing rather tame and upbeat – bobbing his head up and down, boogying around on the pavers, having a good old time. When he noticed I was watching from the inside of my sliding glass doors, he suddenly waddled over and proceeded to stare at me eye-to-eye; as if appealing for me to applaud his little act. Needless to say an immediate bond was formed, but just as suddenly, he moved on down the street and then I began to worry about his safety out there by himself. So I called animal rescue and spoke to someone named Andy 

“I’m worried that Tommy will get hit by a car,” I said. 

“You named the bird?” I couldn’t answer 

“Lady, by the time we send someone out to find your Tommy. He would have been long gone.”

I was afraid of that. I could only hope that by now Tommy had risen high enough on the turkey totem pole to be once again welcomed back to his flock with open wings.

I’ll miss you big guy.

June Capossela Kempf is a Smithtown resident and the author of  Yo God! Jay’s Story. June’s book can be found at www.ml. facebook.com..Traditionally published by.Keithpublications.com

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Junior Anglers Fish At Caleb Smith Preserve

Junior anglers enjoy an off-the-hook day

Submitted by the Friends of Caleb Smith Preserve

Caleb Smith Preserve June 8thIt was a beautiful day for fishing on June 8, and that’s exactly what children with rods and bait in hand did during the Friends of Caleb Smith Preserve’s Annual Junior Angler Tournament. 

The Friends group held two catch-and-release fishing competitions at the preserve: one for 5- to 8-year-olds in the morning of June 8 and another for 9- to 12-year-olds in the afternoon. Throughout the day, more than 40 junior anglers caught a total of 151 fish, according to Tom and Carol Tokosh, event co-chairs. The variety of fish included trout, bass and sunfish.

“For some of the children, it was their first time fishing. For others, it was the first fish they ever caught,” Carol Tokosh said. “The children would get very excited with each fish that they caught.”

Morning winners included Logan Wagner, 8, who won Most Fish Caught, which was 6. Salvatore Rizzo, 5, won Biggest Panfish for catching one that Easton Hodge, 8, caught a 21-inch trout,was 9 inches. Easton Hodge, 8, caught a 21-inch trout, which garnered him the Biggest Other Fish award. In the afternoon, Arabella Siegel, 12, won Most Fish Caught for reeling in an 11-inch fish. Patrick O’Donnell caught a 9-inch panfish which earned him the Biggest Panfish award. The Biggest The Biggest Other Fish award went to Connor Biddle, 11, whose catch measured 17 inches. Other Fish award went to Connor Biddle, 11, whose catch measured 17 inches. 

Raffles were held at both sessions. Oliver Rogeinski won a rod, reel and tackle box. The prize was in memory of Michael D’Agostino, who was one of the founders of FCSP. In the afternoon tournament, Addilynn Blaine won a reel and rod donated in memory of Peter Paquette, the Friends group treasurer, who passed away in May. Both D’Agostino and Paquette volunteered every year at the tournament. 

All participants received goodie bags containing information about fishing and the preserve as well as word search puzzles, a park activity book and other fishing items.

Salvatore Rizzo, 5, won Biggest Panfish for catching one that Easton Hodge, 8, caught a 21-inch trout, was 9 inches.The event co-chairs thanked the volunteers for their help during the event as well as sponsors Campsite Store Shop and The Fisherman magazine for sponsoring the junior angler tournament.

“A special thank you goes out to the staff at Caleb Smith State Parkryan Millan fishing Preserve for getting the park ready so the children could have a wonderful time fishing,” Carol Tokosh said. “Hopefully, the children will be hooked on fishing and will come back to the park to fish .”

Tom Tokosh encouraged junior anglers to visit the park to participate in catch-and-release fishing regularly.

“It’s refreshing to see children out fishing and enjoying an activity in the fresh air,” he said. “Fishing at Caleb Smith State Park Preserve always makes for a memorable day.”

For more information on fishing at Caleb Smith State Park Preserve, call 631-265-1054.

SUFFFOLK CLOSEUP: PSEG'S Lobbying Effort And LIPA

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

“Opportunity Lost: Governor Kills Path to Better Electrical Service at Lower Cost” is the headline of an essay by former Long Island Power Authority Trustee Peter J. Gollon in the just-out issue of L.I. Sierra Club News.

Gollon, on the LIPA board from 2016 to 2021, cites the process existing for decades now for LIPA to “outsource its operation,” to have a third-party contractor run the LIPA grid, currently, he notes, “a subsidiary of PSEG, a New Jersey utility.” He adds “LIPA is limited to supervising PSEG, which gets paid a highly profitable fee of at least $80 million annually.”

PSEG, he says, did “a barely adequate job until the August 2020 train wreck of Tropical Storm Isaias, when PSEG lied about its own incompetence being the root cause of the delayed power restoration.”

“Multiple studies found that the current outsourcing structure is flawed and that the interests of any outsourcing company operating the system cannot coincide with those of the utility’s customers.” writes Gollon. The state’s Legislative Commission on the Future of the Long Island Power Authority “has reached the same conclusion and drafted legislation to allow LIPA to operate the grid itself, with no outsourcing required. PSEG heavily lobbied Governor [Kathy] Hochul and many state legislators to kill the bill and keep the present structure.”

“Thus, the well-thought-out bill got no traction in the [State] Legislature. Nor with Governor Hochul,” he says, “who insulted Long Islanders by remarking, ‘If I get a bill put on my desk, I will examine it.’ That’s polite for ‘I don’t give a damn.’”

“Stuck with the present model, LIPA CEO Tom Falcone started planning for a new outsourcing contract to begin in 2026, with terms that would ensure better performance,” he relates. “Then,” says Gollon, “Governor Hochul replaced the LIPA Board of Trustees chair and appointed three new [board members]. They seemed to neither know nor care about LIPA’s past troubles with PSEG or fixing them.”

Gollon says, “The new Board Chair Tracy Edwards set such a hostile tone that Falcone and [LIPA] COO Mujib Lodhi resigned; more will follow. Without its most competent staff, nobody will be left to design a contract to attract bidders who could make the most of LIPA’s unique and convoluted structure.”

“PSEG’s massive lobbying succeeded but at the expense of the LIPA ratepayers and top-notch service,” declares Gollon.

“They could continue to get their annual $80 million management fee. A weakened LIPA staff will have a harder time integrating the coming offshore wind generation with LIPA’s grid or adding additional local renewables to meet the renewable energy goals of the [New York’s] Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.”

Gollon is not a lightweight on these issues. He has a Ph.D. from Columbia University in nuclear physics and engaged for years in “radiation safety work” at the U.S. government’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in Illinois. He is former chair of the Energy Committee of the L.I. Sierra Club. He is long a Suffolk County resident, living in Huntington for more than four decades. He was appointed to the LIPA board by the speaker of the State Assembly upon the recommendation of then Assemblyman Steve Englebright of Setauket, who has now returned to the Suffolk County Legislature and has been among the most environmentally committed lawmakers ever on state and Suffolk levels.

Gollon’s comments need to be taken most seriously.

In an interview last week, he told me that “I don’t think the governor understands what public power is” and has been swayed by lobbying by Newark, Jersey-based PSEG. In 2011, her predecessor as governor, Governor Andrew Cuomo, arranged for PSEG to run the LIPA grid.

In testimony last year before the Legislative Commission on the Future of the Long Island Power Authority, Gollon spoke of how “inefficient” the system of a third party running the grid is, “despite the outstanding efforts of LIPA’s CEO and staff to supervise and direct PSEG.” He said this “model for a large municipally owned utility does not exist anywhere else in the other forty-nine states. Nor anywhere else in New York State, either.”

He called for LIPA to run the grid itself. “LIPA staff is perfectly capable of directly running the utility,” testified Gollon. “I believe, and I strongly urge you to conclude, that LIPA should be set free of this unique and uniquely expensive and inefficient structure and be allowed to directly manage its own electrical system for the benefit of us, its ratepayers.”

The commission, co-chaired by State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. of Sag Harbor, fully agreed and in its final report called for LIPA to run the grid itself. That, emphasized Thiele, “will save the ratepayers money” and enable “more transparency, more accountability” than the “third-party structure.” The report said cutting out PSEG would provide a saving of $50 million to $80 million a year “by eliminating the fee paid to PSEG” and “allow LIPA’s board of trustees to lower rates or mitigate future rate increases, upgrade grid structure, invest in climate-friendly green initiatives” and “support struggling residents and businesses.” 

PSEG’s contract with LIPA is facing expiration. If that doesn’t happen because of PSEG lobbying—on which it has spent “millions, says Thiele—and LIPA still not allowed to run its own grid itself, that indeed would be “opportunity lost.”

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY/College at Old Westbury and the author of six books.