Fire out at Moss Landing battery plant, heat pockets persist; EPA concludes air monitoring

Five days after the world’s largest lithium battery fire ignited at Vistra Energy Corporation in Moss Landing the Monterey County Board of Supervisors called on all battery storage operations at the power plant to remain offline until an investigation has been completed and officials receive an updated emergency response and action plan from all operators on site.

In addition to Vistra Energy Corporation, PG&E operates the 182.5-megawatt (MW) Tesla Megapack battery energy storage system (BESS), known as the Elkhorn Battery. Both have been offline since the fire ignited on Thursday.

At issue for the supervisors is the operators’ compliance with SB 38, which was passed in 2023 and requires battery energy storage facilities located in the state to submit an emergency response and action plan to the local jurisdiction where it is located. The plan must also be developed in concert with local emergency management agencies, unified program agencies and local first response agencies.

Vistra Energy, according to the supervisors on Tuesday, submitted an emergency plan to the county four months before the bill was enacted and PG&E has not submitted an emergency safety plan for their adjacent battery storage facility in compliance with the law.

State Sen. John Laird released a statement that called on Vistra Energy, while the system remains offline, to present emergency safety plans required under SB 38 at a public forum to increase transparency and accountability.

Laird also called on the company to provide the Monterey Bay Air Resources District with “sufficient SPM Flex gas detectors to effectively track hydrogen fluoride levels.”

The Board of Supervisors also agreed to form an ad-hoc committee spearheaded by Supervisors Glenn Church and Kate Daniels to create a list of options for the Moss Landing facility moving forward.

Monterey supervisor: Moss Landing battery plant fire a ‘wake-up’ call for industry

Fire is out at site, small pockets of heat at facility being monitored, EPA concludes air monitoring

Thursday’s fire at “Moss 300,” the 300 MW lithium storage facility at Vistra Energy destroyed most of the building and its contents, according to county fire officials.

The fire, which was left to burn, was out as of Tuesday, according to fire officials, and small pockets of heat at the facility would continue to be monitored using drones.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concluded supplemental air monitoring in the vicinity of the Vistra Energy storage facility on Jan. 20.

“Results for hydrogen fluoride and particulate matter showed no risk to public health throughout the incident, and smoke from the facility has greatly diminished,” EPA officials said in a statement released on Tuesday.

The EPA began monitoring for hydrogen fluoride, a highly toxic gas produced by lithium-ion battery fires, and for particulate matter on day two of the incident, according to the county’s timeline, with initial hydrogen fluoride gas monitoring readings coming in at 3 p.m. on Jan. 17. The report showed levels below the threshold that is considered potentially harmful.

As part of a multi-agency emergency response, the EPA installed a total of nine monitoring stations: two at the Moss Landing facility and four just outside the facility, including one at Moss Landing, three due east of the fire, to the south near Castroville, and to the north in the vicinity of Moss Landing Middle School, according to the EPA.

Monitoring stations were sited to account for changes in wind direction and potential drift to nearby communities, according to the EPA, and air monitoring stations have been installed where EPA’s stations had been located to continue air monitoring as the response progresses.

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Community calls for more testing, answers

At Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, members of the public voiced their concerns and demanded answers from county officials.

Residents near the fire and in communities just outside the evacuation zone in Royal Oaks and Prunedale requested further testing of soil and water and shared personal stories of health symptoms, including respiratory issues and a metallic taste.

Speakers also voiced concerns over potential impacts to agricultural crops, water wells, livestock and the fragile ecosystems in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary including the Elkhorn Slough, which has been closed to the public since the fire started on Thursday.

Speakers also wanted county officials to ensure cleanup was done properly and hazardous chemicals were not allowed to runoff site and seep into the neighboring environment.

Ed Mitchell of the Prunedale Grange spoke for a newly formed community group called the Moss Landing Fire Community Recovery Group, which came together after 160 residents gathered at the grange on Monday.

Mitchell told the supervisors North County residents appreciate the actions of first responders and how people are working to try to handle this new, “thrilling” technology, but “it’s a technology that when it goes wrong, it’s not thrilling, it’s terrifying.”

This article originally appeared on Salinas Californian: Moss Landing battery plant fire out; EPA commences air monitoring