Close to 100 people gathered Saturday in Moss Landing to voice their concern and demand better information about the fire that tore through a battery storage facility at the Moss Landing Power Plant on Jan. 16
Brian Roeder, a spokesman for the group Never Again Moss Landing—a group of citizens formed in the wake of the fire—thanked them and others for their efforts in taking widespread soil samples to gather information that previously was unavailable to the public.
A total of 125 samples were taken between Pescadero, Carmel and Hollister, Roeder said.
“We made sure our data was properly handled so it would hold up to scrutiny in the scientific community who is now looking at those results,” he said. “And we are now getting those results into the hands of the government, the press and the public.”
The results, which came back on Feb. 5, were tested by ALS Labs of Salt Lake City, Utah.
“By Thursday morning, we reviewed and re-reviewed and re-reviewed to make sure that we correctly put that information into communication that we could send out that could be received and be credible,” Roeder said.
He went on to assure the crowd that the data has been “posted in several locations and is on the website, neveragainmosslanding.org.
The group’s overarching message is that a disaster of that scale must never happen again.
They coordinate local citizen efforts to organize and deploy facts that can restore our community’s environment, health, and welfare.
“We don’t know how to interpret that data but it exists because of your efforts,” the group stated on its website. “And it will go out into the world to people who will know how to interpret that data and tell us what it means.”
Heather Griffin, who lives 4 and a half miles from Moss Landing, said she had blood tests done Jan. 29 because she had mouth sores and a heavy metal taste in her mouth up to a week after the fire was put out. She tearfully told the crowd that lithium had been detected in her blood.
She warned that a similar energy plant is in the works by New Leaf Energy out of Massachusetts at 90 Minto Road in Watsonville, among others around the state.
“And they’re saying, ‘Oh no, this technology is safe, unlike at Moss Landing,’” she said. “But the technology at Moss Landing is only four years old, and they were telling us that it was safe then. We have to come together and start writing and calling supervisors from all three counties asking them to create an emergency moratorium on the approval of these BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) facilities…We need more regulations…”
BESS is typically a collection of rechargeable batteries that store energy from various sources for later use, particularly with renewable energy operations.
Roeder said that as soon as results come in and the interpretation of those results takes place, “we will let you know.”
With that, Griffin joined Ed Mitchell, overseer of the Prunedale Grange and major player in Never Again Moss Landing, crossed Highway 1 and attached a bright red banner to the fence at the energy plant at the corner of Dolan Road at Moss Landing. Its bold, plain lettering read: “Never Again Moss Landing.”
Meanwhile, Knut Johnson, Senior Counsel with law firm Singleton Schreiber, has joined forces with Erin Brockovich,
film director and consumer advocate and environmental activist, along with Moss Landing residents in filing a lawsuit against Vistra, PG&E, and other energy companies over the Jan. 16 fire.
Brockovich is best known for the 2000 film of the same name, in which she was portrayed by actress Julia Roberts.
The lawsuit states that the fire “resulted in toxic emissions that jeopardized the health and safety of thousands of residents and businesses in the surrounding area.”
In addition, Vistra employees said after the incident that the fire suppression system failed, and called it “outdated and ineffective at stopping thermal runaway or extinguishing lithium-ion fires.”
The employees also said that the facility contained too many lithium-ion batteries in one enclosed space.
They are demanding a jury trial and seeking punitive and compensatory damages.
Yall still want to buy an e- vehicle?
Yall still want to buy an e- vehicle? Hybrid? Tesla??
All lithium batteries are not the same – that I know. So, why isn’t anyone talking about the various types?
From my bit of research, I found 6 different types:
LiCO – Lithium cobalt oxide
LiMO – Lithium magnesium oxide
LiTO – Lithium titanate oxide
LiNCA – Lithium nickel cobalt aluminium oxide
LiFePO4 – Lithium iron phosphate oxide ( This is the type stored at the Tesla facility at Moss Landing, and the most fire resistant version.)
LiNMC – Lithium nickel magnesium cobalt (The type that google A.I. said were the ones that burned at Moss Landing)
I would very much like to see any reports that either confirm or correct what I have found.