Western gulls visit Moss Landing Harbor, with the towers of the energy plant in the background. Heavy metal particulates from the Jan. 16 fire at the plant have been found in the soil, prompting concerns about effects on local ecosystems. (Tarmo Hannula/The Pajaronian)

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday joined several other local elected officials and residents demanding answers into the causes of the Jan. 16 fire at the Vistra battery storage facility in Moss Landing.

The board voted unanimously to ask the California Public Utilities Commission to independently investigate the fire, which followed updates on the fire by Monterey County officials and a Vistra representative.

While the report was not an action item, Supervisor Manu Koenig made the motion to help county staff as they follow up on an Oct. 29 board directive to create an ordinance related to energy storage facilities, to be considered in April.

Included in Koenig’s motion was a directive to ask board chair Felipe Hernandez to pen a letter to the California Energy Commission to evaluate any battery storage systems similar to the one in Moss Landing, such as one in San Diego that burned in September.

In addition, Koenig asked that county officials conduct tests of the soil and water for signs of contamination from the heavy metal particulates that resulted from the blaze.

“Clearly I think we all agree that we want to incorporate any learnings from the Moss Landing fire after-action report or other similar reports into the development of that ordinance,” he said.

While the EPA and Vistra officials said that no such gases were detected at levels thought harmful to people, many affected by the smoke described a variety of symptoms such as headaches, coughs and metallic tastes in their mouths.

“It’s unthinkable that this type of disaster could happen here,” Supervisor Kim De Serpa said, adding that Vistra should give a “big donation” to the Elkhorn Slough Foundation as it assesses the damage to ecosystems there.

Monterey County officials announced Thursday that Vistra has contributed more than $450,000 to establish a relief fund for people impacted by the evacuations related to the Jan. 16 fire. Each address within the declared evacuation zone is eligible for one gift card, distributed by the Community Foundation of Monterey County and its partners, the United Way and the Castro Plaza Family Resource Center. 

For information and to request a form, click here or visit bit.ly/MossLandingFireRelief. 

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General assignment reporter, covering nearly every beat. I specialize in feature stories, but equally skilled in hard and spot news. Pajaronian/Good Times/Press Banner reporter honored by CSBA. https://pajaronian.com/r-p-reporter-honored-by-csba/

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