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Environmental concerns still loom over Northern California lithium battery facility fire

Questions about impact of Moss Landing lithium battery facility fire linger
Questions about impact of Moss Landing lithium battery facility fire linger 01:13

As the fire lithium battery storage facility that led to evacuations in Moss Landing last week continues to smolder days later, concerns are being raised about the impacts to the surrounding environment.

The fire at the Moss Landing Vistra Power Plant, located about 90 miles south of San Francisco, broke out last Thursday afternoon, escalating in the early evening to the point where the incident triggered evacuations for about 1,200 Monterey County residents in the area and shut down a section of Highway 1 in both directions.  

Moss Landing Power Plant fire
Moss Landing Power Plant fire KION

Concerned over the potentially toxic runoff if fire crews turned hoses on the burning lithium batteries, officials instead are allowing the to burn itself out.

Officials said the fire was largely out as of late Friday morning during a press conference, but it flared up significantly for a few hours that afternoon before dying down again.

At the press conference, Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church called the incident a "Three-Mile Island event" for the industry, referencing the 1979 partial meltdown at a Pennsylvania nuclear power plant, the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history. 

"I think that this is, uh, can best be described as a worst-case scenario of a disaster that's happened here. Nobody really predicted anything on this line," said Church. "This is really a lot more than just a fire, it's a wake-up call for this industry. And if we're going to be moving ahead with sustainable energy we need to have safe battery systems in place." 

The battery energy storage systems industry, known by the acronym BESS, develops systems to store energy from electric, solar, electric, wind, and other energy systems.   

Industry group American Clean Power Association rejected Church's assertion on Tuesday, telling CBS News Bay Area the comparison was "misleading and dangerous" and noting the impact of a partial nuclear meltdown on a community is far greater than any worst-case battery plant fire.

Church said he has fielded numerous questions from his constituents on why it happened, how it happened, and how to prevent a similar accident in the future. Church added it is the fourth fire at the site, a former Pacific Gas and Electric facility, since 2019 and said he and other county officials were previously assured it would not happen again. He called for increased safety protocols for the industry at federal, state, local, and private levels.

Church is calling for the Vistra facility to remain closed until an independent investigation can determine the cause of the incident.

Monterey County officials declared a local state of emergency over the fire on Tuesday.

There are also ongoing worries about the environmental impact the fire has had on the region.

Monterey County officials will begin testing the water in the area this week. In the meantime, despite the toxic smoke produced by burning lithium batteries, they have given the all-clear on the air quality.

"The air quality is good and...it's safe to breathe out there," said Monterey County Environmental Health Assistant Bureau Chief Marni Flagg. 

Evacuation orders were lifted Friday evening, but the shut down section of Highway 1 did not reopen until Sunday.

Health officials still advised residents near the plant to limit outdoor exposure and to keep doors and windows closed until further notice.  

The ongoing fire is raising concerns not just for the residents in the area, but also for the endangered sea otters living in the sensitive wetlands near the Vistra plant.

"They're a keystone species. They help to protect the kelp beds offshore by consuming sea urchins, and they help to protect the sea beds here in the slough," University of California at Santa Cruz researcher Lilian Carswell. "So healthy sea otters mean a healthy environment." 

The otters live in the Elkhorn Slough Reserve. Researchers will keep a close eye on them as the fire continues to burn.

The Elkhorn Slough Reserve has been closed until further notice. There are only about 3,000 sea otters left in California.

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