Following a recent fire at the Vistra Moss Landing Power Plant and Energy Storage Facility, researchers from San Jose State University’s Moss Landing Marine Laboratories have found elevated quantities of heavy metals at the Elkhorn Slough Reserve.
The plant is among the biggest lithium-ion battery storage facilities in the world.
About 1,200 residents of Monterey County were forced to evacuate when the fire at the Moss Landing Vistra Power Plant, which is about 90 miles south of San Francisco, started in the afternoon on January 16 and got worse in the early evening. The incident also caused a section of Highway 1 to close in both directions.
For the nascent lithium-ion battery sector, one supervisor called the fire a “Three Mile Island” incident. The Moss Landing fire prompted Monterey County officials to declare a state of emergency last Tuesday.
Soon after the Jan. 16 fire, the scientists examined soil samples at the slough as part of long-term monitoring. The fire and its closeness to the delicate wetlands area had sparked environmental concerns.
Field surveys within a two-mile radius of the power plant revealed a sharp rise in the surface concentrations of three heavy metals—nickel, manganese, and cobalt—in marsh soil, the university reported Monday. The university claims that this sharp rise is related to baseline measurements taken in the vicinity before to the fire as well as the shallow subsoil.
Analysis linked the metals’ existence to airborne emissions from the fire and showed that they are components of cathode materials used in lithium-ion batteries. The metals were identified as nanoparticles with sizes ranging from 1 to 20 microns. As they spread, these metals may undergo chemical changes that could have an effect on food webs and ecosystems, according to a press statement from the institution.
“Elkhorn Slough hosts a tremendous diversity of plant and animal life and has been designated a Globally Important Bird Area by the National Audubon Society and the American Birding Conservancy,” according to the Nature Conservancy.
The Elkhorn Slough Foundation received 750 acres of the wetlands in 2012 for ongoing care after the conservancy had acquired them for conservation in 1971.
Given the growing demand for large-scale energy storage, it is critical to comprehend the ecological dangers associated with battery technology, according to Dr. Ivano Aiello, professor of marine geology and department chair at MLML’s study team. His group will keep an eye on the impacted streams and soils.
“These findings and the research that follows are crucial not only to the impacted community but to the national and international community because of the need to store more power and thus build more and larger battery storage facilities,” the department chair and professor of marine geology at MLML, Dr. Aiello, stated. “This is a new and fast-growing technology, and we must understand the ecological impacts in the event that accidents like this happen again.”
In a public statement on Monday, Assemblymember Dawn Addis, a Democrat from Morro Bay, addressed the findings.
“I am alarmed and deeply concerned to hear the high concentrations of heavy metals have been identified within one of our most cherished and fragile ecosystems, Elkhorn Slough and its surrounding areas,” Addis said. “The battery energy storage fire is directly related to these concentrations. For this reason, I continue to demand that the CPUC conduct independent examinations and that all environmental data be taken into account.
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