Van Zandt County Fire Marshal orders battery facility to meet fire codes

VAN ZANDT COUNTY — A 43-acre battery energy storage facility started construction in December, but soon, that work could be brought to a halt. According to our news partner KETK, the Van Zandt County Fire Marshal has issued an order to Taaleri Energia, the company behind the Amador Energy Storage project, to follow all state fire codes or face the consequences.

Shane Lane’s ranch borders the land the battery facility is being built on, and he is currently suing the Finnish-owned company over safety concerns.

“We run a cow calf operation and they don’t have any type of evacuation, they don’t have any plans for anything, there’s no safety protocol whatsoever for this facility,” Lane said.

Before construction started at the end of December, the county sent Taaleri Energia a letter requesting the documents required for the facility to be built, but they didn’t receive a response until February.

“I find that very interesting that a that a foreign-owned entity can come in here with a $90 million project and can’t do something as little as turn in a few documents on time,” Lane said.

Some documents were sent back, but after reviewing them, the new fire marshal, Kevin Palmer, said they didn’t meet the requirements.

“It’s not because I didn’t like them. It’s really because they failed some test or because they weren’t up to standard,” Palmer said.

This led to the fire marshal requesting new documentation. Palmer said he feels the company didn’t see a reason to be quick about it turning in the documents. So he issued an order to have everything submitted by April 7 and added a condition.

“Under no circumstances may any of the batteries enter Van Zandt County until all requirements have been met,” Palmer said. Taaleri Energia now has two weeks to get all required forms, surveys and safety plans to the fire marshal’s office, or there will be a penalty.

“When a fire marshal issues you an order, if you fail to comply with that order, it’s actually a Class B misdemeanor until after the second conviction, and then becomes a state jail felony,” Palmer said.

Palmer added that the Van Zandt County District Attorney can also file a temporary injunction to halt all construction.

“It’s time to let them know that foreign entities are not welcome in this county to build a project of that scale,” Lane said.

KETK reached out to Taaleri Energia for a comment on the requirements but they haven’t responded as of Thursday night.