Petition to deny the zoning permit to prevent the building of the Cypress Creek B.E.S.S. near The Oaks of Clear Creek and Parr Elementary School!

A request has been made to change zoning for a Battery Energy Storage System (B.E.S.S.) near The Oaks of Clear Creek and Parr Elementary. Despite the unanimous vote to DENY Cypress Creek’s request by the League City Planning and Zoning Commission, LC City Council will vote whether or not to approve the permit on May 14th at 6:00 PM in City Council Chambers, 200 West Walker Street, League City, 77573.

The proposed site is dangerously close to residential areas and schools. These facilities pose serious risks of fires and explosions in which toxic chemicals can be released, endangering lives and property.

The most catastrophic effect of putting this industrial sized battery facility across from our neighborhood and school is what gets released into all the surrounding areas (air and groundwater) when there is a fire.

Potential fires from a B.E.S.S. unit could emit cyanide and hydrofluoric acid, endangering nearby neighborhoods and families. Firefighters, like those of our League City Volunteer Fire Department, lack efficient means and training to extinguish such fires, leading to prolonged dangers and evacuations.

At the League City Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting on Monday, March 4th, Cypress Creek Renewables admitted that they have only been installing these units for the past 5 years, which clearly is NOT enough time to investigate the long-term safety issues related to nearby neighborhoods, schools and churches.

In addition, the mere five years of installation experience creates a lack of data on the performance of these units during successive days of triple-digit heat, or catastrophic flooding or hurricane events.

Cypress Creek has stated the unit will be “monitored” at their facility in North Carolina. When asked if they had planned to have someone “on site,” the representative stated they had someone in the “area” (which was Richmond/Rosenberg – which is roughly one hour away from League City in the event of an emergency.)

One League City resident, a cyber security expert, discussed at the Planning/Zoning Meeting the “target” these infrastructure projects are relative to cyber security. Notably, these batteries are produced in China.

These batteries can only hold a 2-hour charge before they need an opportunity to recharge. Further, the 2-hour allotment of energy goes to 40,000 random Texas residents – our League City residents could potentially not even benefit from these 2-hour allotments of energy.

All of these safety factors – for the residents of The Oaks of Clear Creek (and others), our school children at Parr Elementary (and others) and nearby places of worship – lead us to respectfully request of our City Council to VOTE “NO” to the building of this B.E.S.S. Lithium Ion battery storage unit at the requested site of Hwy. 3 across from The Oaks of Clear Creek and Parr Elementary School.

A signature on this petition denotes you are in favor of City Council VOTING “NO” to this project in the location proposed by Cypress Creek.

Thank you.