Since a massive fire has torn one of the largest battery storage facilities in the world in January, cleaning teams have not been able to safely access parts of the building that burned in the rural county of Monterey.
THE The risk of reviving a fire was too highFacing crews from starting the long and dangerous distance of tens of thousands of lithium-ion batteries.
Now this process could soon start.
The American environmental protection agency announced this week had concluded an agreement Regarding the withdrawal of the battery with Vistra Corp., based in Texas, which has the battery energy storage system in Moss Landing which caught fire.
THE 75 -page agreementSigned on July 17, obliges to listen to submit detailed worktops to EPA on all aspects of the elimination of batteries and to obtain government approval before it continued.
“Vistra will lead and pay the process of removing and eliminating batteries under the supervision of the EPA,” said Kazami Brockman, the EPA coordinator on Wednesday. “If the agreement is not performed for the satisfaction of the EPA, the EPA has the power to resume cleaning and the invoice of the Vistra for the cost.”
Brockman added: “We plan that this work will continue for more than a year due to the technical complexity as well as the security measures put in place to protect workers and the community.”
In an email on Wednesday evening, Meranda Cohn, a Vistra spokesperson, said: “The withdrawal of the batteries could not occur until this agreement was in place.”
Moss’ landing fire started on January 16. He smoked for several days, spitting toxic gas in the air and causing the evacuation of around 1,500 people. The firefighters let it burn, citing the dangers of the drop in lithium-ion battery fires with water, which can cause dangerous chemical reactions.
The fire ignited inside an old turbine building which contained a system of 300 megawatts composed of around 4,500 cabinets, each containing 22 individual battery modules, according to Vistra.
These battery systems store excess energy generated during the day and release it in the electrical network during periods of high demand, including evening hours. These installations are considered essential to stabilize the state electrical network and advance the transition to cleaner energy because they can store solar and wind energy to use when the sun does not shine and the turbines do not turn.
But Vistra fire also exposed the dangers inherent in the storage of large -scale batteries, encouraging state and federal regulators to seek stronger safety protocols.
Of the 99,000 individual LG battery modules in the building, around 54,450 burned, according to Vistra.
On February 18, the fire reigned and burned for several hours. Vistra wrote on his website that “additional cases of smoke and thrusts are a possibility given the nature of this situation and damage to the batteries”.
The damaged building – filled with burnt and not affected lithium -ion batteries – remains volatile, which has both slowed down and complicated cleaning.
“The challenge here is that there are batteries in various states of charge, being able to hold the loads, until completely consumed,” said Brockman.
In the past six months, the crews have removed the fire debris containing asbestos and disconnected Batteries accessible safely to reduce the risk of reign, according to EPA.
A major fire broke out at the Moss landing center on January 16, 2025.
(KSBW via Associated Press)
Certain parts of the building were “completely inaccessible,” said Ramon Albizu, the EPA coordinator on the stage on Thursday. He added that the 99,000 modules in the building had suffered degrees of variable damage.
“We must carefully demolish the building to access all modules,” said Albizu. “It requires a lot of planning.”
Since the fire, the EPA, the Vissra and other regulatory organizations have created more than 30 work plans related to the demolition and the elimination of the batteries, he said. The work to stabilize the building should start by the end of the month, he added.
The Moss landing fire launched nine days after the start of fatal palisades and Eaton fires in the County of Los Angeles. EPA, under pressure From the Trump administration to work quickly in southern California, withdrew around 300 tonnes of dangerous household debris – including more than 1,000 lithium -ion batteries – massive burning areas of Altadena and Pacific Palisades within 28 days.
Albizu said that the elimination of batteries in the Moss bearing differs considerably from the elimination of smaller batteries in southern California, many of which came from electric vehicles. In the Vistra building, each of the 99,000 batteries, he said, measures approximately 4 feet long and weighs more than 200 pounds.
“This is something that is unprecedented,” said Albizu about the fire factory fire.
Once each battery is removed, its remaining energy will be transferred to another source, according to the EPA. If the batteries are too damaged for this to be finished, the crews will unlock them by the brine, during which they are overwhelmed in a solution of water and salt.
The batteries will then be transported out of site for elimination, said David Yeager, director of project development for Vistra, during the Monterey County news briefing.
In a statement to Times Thursday, the Comté de Monterey supervisor Glenn Church, whose district includes Moss Landing, said that it was “disappointed that it took so long to reach a point where cleaning can begin, but security must be a priority”.
According to Visstra, the cause of the fire “remains unknown” and is still the subject of an investigation by the company. California Public Utilities Commission also has an undergoing investigation.
Vistra fire has shaken California’s own energy industry and its plans for more battery factories, which heads of state are pursuing aggressively.
In And online For the Wall Street Journal published on Wednesday, Governor Gavin Newsom praised California’s transition to renewable energies, writing that it was “time for America to follow the example of California”.
He wrote that the possibility of storing clean electricity was “a key factor” to achieve clean energy objectives and that, in the past six years, the state has added 15,000 megawatts of battery storage capacity, enough to meet a quarter of electricity demand.
“More is on the way,” wrote Newsom, “including the largest battery project in the world, now being authorized In the County of Fresno Thanks to the new California accelerated license process. »»
In addition to additional safety regulations for the storage of batteries, the fire has aroused calls for more local control over the location of storage sites.
In an investigation Nearby residents led by the health services of the counties of Monterey and Santa Cruz, 83% of respondents said they had at least one symptom – most often headaches, sore throats and a cough – shortly after the fire. Almost a quarter of respondents said they had trouble breathing and 39% said they had a metallic taste in their mouths.
The investigation, carried out in February and March, questioned 1,539 people who lived or worked in the region at the time of the fire.
Knut Johnson, a lawyer for the law firm Singleton Schreiber, said hundreds of nearby residents had joined a trial against Vistra, LG Energy Solution and Pacific Gas & Electric, accusing companies of not having adequate fire safety systems.
Johnson said the complainants are “very worried” about the batteries that remain on the spot.
“These burned batteries still contain a lot of toxins,” said Johnson. “The wind blows, the evening fog takes place, suspended the particles in humidity – there are many ways so that the remaining toxins move around the community.”
The fire must “serve as alarm clock,” said Johnson, for all those who wish to build battery storage facilities near residential areas and sensitive ecosystems.