We are the water experts. Whether the contaminant is nanoplastics or a "forever chemical" too small for standard tests, the hardest ones to manage are the ones nobody routinely measures yet. A case on New York's Long Island shows exactly that: a fire-suppression agent used at a battery storage site has been linked to an ultra-short-chain PFAS called PFPrA in public drinking-water wells, and it was found only because the local utility built its own test.

On October 9, 2026, Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine announced that NextEra Energy agreed to extend its suspension of two East End battery energy storage facilities, at Cove Hollow Road in East Hampton and in Montauk near Fort Pond, both jointly owned by NextEra and National Grid. The suspension stays in place until the Novec 1230 fire-suppression agent is removed from both sites.

What happened

The fire. The East Hampton Battery Energy Storage System caught fire on May 31, 2023. According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), more than 180,000 battery cells were on site and 672 burned, less than 0.4% of the total.
The response. DEC says the fire response applied more than one million gallons of water to the facility, along with about 4,900 pounds of waterless fire-suppression chemicals.
The likely source. DEC's September 2026 update says the evidence points to the fire suppression system, not battery storage, as the PFPrA source: a vapor-based waterless suppressant that, combined with water, can break down into PFPrA. Suffolk County's Oct. 9 announcement says DEC determined that water applied during the fire mixed with Novec 1230 and broke down into PFPrA.

How it was found

Its own test method. The Suffolk County Water Authority (SCWA) says its laboratory developed an in-house method for a suite of five short-chain PFAS, including PFPrA, and began testing its whole system in January 2026. At that time, neither the U.S. EPA nor the New York State Department of Health (DOH) had an approved test method for it.
Rising results. SCWA says January results at the Bridgehampton Road wellfield were below New York's 50 parts per billion (ppb) catch-all limit for unregulated organic contaminants. Tests in April and May exceeded 50 ppb, and SCWA took two wells out of service immediately. Two more wells were restricted as a precaution. SCWA said the only one of those that could be used, Well 3A, which is equipped with granular activated carbon (GAC) treatment, would run only in a fire emergency or a loss of system pressure; SCWA has since said it has no plans to bring Wells 2B and 3A back into service.
A new screening value. There is no enforceable PFPrA-specific drinking-water standard. In July 2026, DOH set a preliminary site-specific screening value of 3 ppb to guide decisions during the investigation.
Groundwater readings. DEC reports that temporary profile wells between the public supply wells and the battery site returned results including 1,170 ppb of PFPrA and 2.77 ppb of PFOS. Initial private-well results reviewed so far found no PFPrA above the 3 ppb screening value and no PFOA or PFOS above New York's 10 parts per trillion limit.

Why ultra-short-chain PFAS are different

DEC describes ultra-short-chain PFAS as PFAS with fewer than four carbons; the commonly regulated PFOA and PFOS have eight. Shorter chains travel faster through soil and groundwater because they do not stick to soil particles as easily. DEC and Suffolk County have installed 14 new monitoring wells, sampled seven existing National Grid wells and collected more than 40 soil samples from 12 locations, with a final report expected this fall. SCWA has also sued the developers, operators and equipment manufacturers associated with the facility.

The water experts' take

You can only regulate what you can measure. PFPrA showed up because one utility invested in its own method. DEC notes that no ultra-short-chain PFAS methods have yet been certified by the federal or state governments.
Fire response is a water-quality question. This case shifts attention from the batteries themselves to suppression agents and firefighting runoff near wellfields.
Know your water. Your utility's Consumer Confidence Report lists what it tests for today. Private-well owners near the East Hampton site can contact the Suffolk County Department of Health Services at 631-852-6700.

Hydrology University was not involved in this investigation.

Sources

Suffolk County Government, "County Executive Romaine Announces NextEra Energy Will Extend Suspension of Two East End Battery Storage Facilities," October 9, 2026: suffolkcountyny.gov
NYSDEC, "Bridgehampton Wellfield PFAS Source Investigation Update," Community Update, September 2026: dec.ny.gov (PDF)
NYSDEC, "East Hampton PFAS Investigation": dec.ny.gov
Suffolk County Water Authority, "Impacts from East Hampton Battery Storage" (letters of June 5 and August 14, 2026): scwa.com

Photo: Fort Pond Bay, Montauk, New York (February 2013), by Erik Anestad via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0). Regional view of Long Island's East End; not the investigation site.