SAUGUS — Local town officials joined in at a Revere City Council meeting on Monday to listen in on discussions about the Battery Energy Storage System facility that will be near the Saugus border.
Mayor Patrick M. Keefe Jr. requested that Fire Chief James Cullen and Capt. Kevin O’Hara speak at the meeting to provide a public safety briefing on the matter.
Keefe noted that no formal agreements have been made and nothing has been signed with the company Flatiron Energy.
“With the increased demand on the power grid, solutions are being proposed, one of them being Battery Energy Storage Systems. These facilities are being proposed in the state of Massachusetts and are already in the planning stage or under construction in nearby cities and towns,” Cullen said.
When going through the list of necessities for the fire department, Cullen mentioned updated water mains in the area, a high-capacity pumper apparatus, 360-degree access to the site, and a fixed fire protection system.
“As far as hazardous materials, the smoke and gases that are produced by these fires are the same as any other fire that we handle. And many people don’t realize that when there’s just a building fire or a house fire, all kinds of hazardous materials come out of those fires these days,” he said.
Cullen continued that if there was ever a need to evacuate, the City has resources to handle it.
O’Hara noted that he had been approached a year ago about the possibility of a lithium battery park, and he began doing his research, echoing what Cullen said about the smoke being the same as what comes from a house fire.
“You don’t need an evacuation plan because we don’t evacuate the area when we have a house that catches fire,” O’Hara said.
He explained that when the batteries catch fire, the department would protect exposures and bank the smoke down.
“The only time we put water on the battery units itself is if we start to notice the battery is starting to take off,” he said.
The councilors were given the opportunity to ask Cullen and Kelly questions, with Councilor-At-Large Michelle Kelley pointing out that the states that have the most systems, California and Texas, don’t have them in densely populated areas or protected wetlands.
Special training for the department was mentioned, and Councilor Jim Mercurio asked if it would be possible for the Saugus Fire Department to be a part of joint training, to which Cullen agreed it would be welcomed.
Saugus Selectmen Vice Chair Anthony Cogliano thanked the Council for allowing them to speak at the meeting, noting that he was there to listen and learn from the department.
“As you know, it is coming to Saugus, too. I think ours is going to be a little bit bigger than yours. So I think some of the comments by the Council about mutual training is a great idea. We’ll follow your lead on this from here,” Cogliano said.
Selectman Frank Federico also thanked the Council, agreeing that the mutual training would be beneficial.
“I live on Eustis Street, which is Muzzey Street (where the battery park is set to be located). I’m very concerned because my neighbors are very concerned. The education tonight from the firefighters (was) fantastic… All my information is coming off of Google… This is great, and I’m hoping Saugus piggybacks off this and learns from what happens here,” Town Meeting member Robert Camuso said.
Camuso noted that many of his neighbors had no clue what the situation was and asked for a bit more communication between Revere and Saugus.
