HADLEY — A stand-alone battery storage project on Breckenridge Road that planners rejected 18 months ago — and that is now the subject of a pending lawsuit — is back before the Planning Board, where residents this week raised concerns about dangers to people and wildlife, as well as expected noise.

Those who live near the proposed site at 0 Breckenridge Road shared their feelings with the board Tuesday as members considered ZP Battery Devco’s request for site plan approval, along with a solar energy special permit and a special permit for business use in an aquifer protection area.

Planning Board Chairman James Maksimoski said he couldn’t speak to the lawsuit, which the developers filed in Hampshire Superior Court after planners rejected their first application.

But the board has begun a new hearing for a nearly identical proposal out of concern about whether the state would allow the rejection under the Dover Amendment exemption of the battery storage system’s impact on general public health, safety and the environment. The amendment is a state law exempting certain land uses from local zoning.

Tom Corbett, senior project manager for Zero-Point Development of Worcester, said the 5-megawatt AC would be put on a nearly 5-acre site, near the existing laydown area for material storage by property owner Karl’s Excavating.

The project will have five battery containers, with inverters and converters, with the containers resting on concrete pads with a secondary containment system. The system will be connected to three-phase powerlines on Breckenridge Road.

Planning Board member Joseph Zgrodnik said because the project is located over the town’s aquifer protection area, planners have used extra caution in case of chemical spills.

But Corbett said there is no chance of overflow due to a containment system that has sufficient capacity.

Sean Mackin of Breckenridge Road said the project is proposed for a residential neighborhood with Agricultural Preservation Restriction program land and next to a playground, Zatyrka Park, where children and people walk dogs and during the winter becomes a popular sledding hill.

Since the board is already being sued, planners should continue to oppose the plans, he said. “This is what a lot of companies will do: they will threaten litigation, and you guys were prepared for this,” Mackin said.

Another Breckenridge Road resident, Alanna Owen, said she worries about long-term impacts of being exposed to living near a battery storage and the possible noise that could be similar to a wind turbine.

Wildlife and pollinators will also be affected, Owen said.

“I am concerned about the bigger impacts on top of that. If there is ever a tragedy such as a fire, there needs to be specialized training to put these fires out, and equipment,” Owen said.

Corbett disputed those contentions, saying the battery storage system will be inaudible at a 697-foot distance from the nearest home, and normal firefighting can be used to extinguish any passive fire.

Still, others, like Donna Kurkul of Frallo Drive, said she expects sound to travel to the neighborhood and this was also noted by Tatjana Mackin, of Breckenridge Road and another who lives on the street, Brian Carroll, who said that even though he’s some distance from the Young Men’s Club on East Street, he can hear music from concerts there.

The hearing will continue on Aug. 18.