Note: This series concerns a proposal to use incineration to recycle lithium-ion batteries. It was proposed for Endicott in Broome County NY. The proposal resulted in the formation of the group NoBurnBroome on April 15, 2020, to oppose the proposal, which it successfully accomplished in February 2021. The Fluoride Action Network was interested in this project because the novel use of incineration to recoup valuable metals would be a new, and non-assessed, exposure route to large amounts of hydrogen fluoride. Index to the series is here.

The following is a leaflet distributed throughout Endicott

1. SungEel’s process is the first of its kind in the USA. Endicott is not the place to run an experiment.
2. Many very toxic substances will be formed and released in SungEel‘s heating and burning process, including at least 4 known human carcinogens (including dioxin), hydrogen fluoride, and possibly PFAS. The cancer rate in Endicott is already very high because of pollution from previous operations.
3. The assumption being made is that all these toxic substances will be controlled 100% of the time. This is a reckless assumption. If something goes wrong there is no fail safe.
4. Lithium-ion batteries are a known fire risk but no formal accident analysis has been performed and no evacuation plan has been discussed. The building across the street holding the batteries is a thin corrugated steel building incapable of constraining a fire or explosion and sits next to the NYSEG substation that would be impacted in such an event.
5. This facility, on the North Side, is too close to people’s homes and where children play. If the facility goes into operation parents will be reluctant to let children play in the baseball fields or swim in the pool.
6. SungEel’s plant in Gunsan, South Korea, is located in a large industrial area (about 8000 acres) and the nearest residential community is 3 miles away.
7. The NY Department of Environmental Conservation accepted an unrepresentative sampling for dioxin; a totally unrealistic measurement of hydrogen fluoride; DEC were unaware of the use of PFAS in some batteries, and ignored the nanoparticle issue! We need better protection than this. We need a FULL Environmental Impact Statement.
8. We need a formal public hearing to hear presentations by experts from both sides. There is no need to expose Endicott to these dangers. Lithium-ion batteries can be recycled without using heating and burning.
9. All the benefits go to SungEel. All the risks remain in Endicott. SungEel will send valuable and strategically important metals to South Korea. We will be left with (a) Pollution from burning the rest of the batteries (b) Health Risks (c) 20 Low Paid Jobs (d) Loss in Property Values.
10. This is an emergency. This will destroy our village as we know it. Endicott residents must come together and work to stop this project. Every single resident is needed. Become a member of NoBurnBroome and receive updates.

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