'Terrifying': Monterey County declares emergency after massive lithium battery plant fire
The massive blaze that began a week ago forced the evacuation of 1,200 residents before it burned itself out. Now residents are worried about safe cleanup and what the future holds.
A state of emergency has been declared in Monterey County on California's scenic Central Coast over a major fire at a battery plant.
The Monterey County Board of Supervisors ratified the emergency during a special session about the fire at Vistra Energy's Moss Landing Power Plant in the unincorporated community of Moss Landing. The proclamation was first issued by the county's administrative officer when the fire began one week ago and clears the way for the county to ask for state and federal assistance.
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, according to The Californian − part of the Paste BN Network.
The fire at the plant, a 300-megawatt lithium storage facility, destroyed most of the building and its contents, according to county fire officials. The storage facility is a part of a natural gas-powered electricity plant operated by Vistra Energy, a Texas company. The facility also has a battery storage station owned by PG&E.
Evacuation orders for approximately 1,200 residents near the plant were lifted Friday night, though some road closures remain in place.
EPA, county says there was no risk to public health
The Environmental Protection Agency concluded supplemental air-monitoring in the vicinity of the Vistra Energy storage facility on Monday and said in a statement that there was, "no risk to public health throughout the incident."
The EPA began monitoring for hydrogen fluoride, a highly toxic gas produced by lithium-ion battery fires, and for particulate matter on Saturday, according to the county’s timeline.
“We remain fairly confident that there was no adverse impact associated with emissions from the plant fire, we did not do speciation of chemicals found because that would be a pretty exhaustive and expensive process to do," Richard Stedman, air pollution control officer from the Monterey Bay Air Resources District, said at the meeting.
Residents near the fire and in communities just outside the evacuation zone requested further testing of soil and water on Tuesday and shared personal stories of health symptoms, including respiratory issues and a metallic taste.
Community members, officials express concerns over safety
At Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, members of the public voiced their concerns and demanded answers from county officials, saying they wanted officials to ensure cleanup was done properly and hazardous chemicals were not allowed to run offsite and seep into the neighboring environment.
Ed Mitchell spoke for a newly formed community group called the Moss Landing Fire Community Recovery Group, which came together after 160 residents gathered at Prunedale Grange, a volunteer organization in Monterrey County, on Monday.
Mitchell told the supervisors that North County residents appreciate the actions of first responders and called lithium batteries a "thrilling" new technology but “a technology that when it goes wrong, it’s not thrilling, it’s terrifying.”
Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church said during the meeting, according to CBS News, that "this technology is ahead of the government's ability to regulate it. And the industry's ability to control it."
Church called for the facility to stay closed until an independent investigation determines the cause of the incident, CBS News reported.
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