Nickel, cobalt and manganese, found in lithium-ion batteries, increased dramatically at Elkhorn Slough after the fire

The dramatic fire at the the Vistra battery storage plant, one of the world’s largest, caused the evacuation of 1,200 people in Northern Monterey County, closed Highway 1 and sent large clouds of toxic black smoke billowing from at one of the world’s largest battery storage plants.

Fire is out at Moss Landing but questions persist as Monterey County Board of Supes call on all operations to remain offline until conditions are met.

Santa Cruz County supervisors met to discuss potential toxin spread from the Moss Landing battery plant fire, with residents voicing health concerns and opposition to a new battery storage project.

A plume of material released from the plant contained hydroflouride, a toxic gas, that is now being monitored by Monterey County.

Battery safety has come a long way since the construction of the 300 MW first phase of Vistra Energy’s Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility in California, which caught fire on January 16. The vast majority of today’s large-scale battery energy storage systems does not have much in common with the affected project deployed in a former turbine hall.

In an emergency meeting, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors voted to request Vistra Energy and PG&E cease operations at their Moss Landing battery energy storage facilities until a cause of last week's fire is determined.

Elevated concentrations of heavy metals have been detected at the Elkhorn Slough Reserve by scientists from San Jose State University.

Brian Hackney reports on the environmental impacts of the fire that happened at a Northern California lithium battery plant. Website: YouTube: Facebook: Instagram: Twitter: