Vistra Battery shares cleanup efforts in Moss Landing
MOSS LANDING, Calif. (KION) - The County of Monterey's new environmental testing dashboard provides a better picture of what's been found.
Vistra's project director, Dave Yaeger, says removing the batteries is a complex process, and there’s still no timeline for when it will be complete.
Over 4 months after the fire at the Visra battery storage facility cleanup is far from over.
"We expect to begin incrementally removing the batteries that were not affected by the fire, discharging them, essentially draining them, and transporting them offsite this summer. Batteries that weren't impacted by the fire are anticipated to be stable for transportation once they're discharged. From there, they'll be sent to a recycling facility according to all DOT and EPA standards," said Dave Yaeger, Director of Project Development for Vistra.
It's still unknown when the batteries impacted by the fire will be removed.
"Vistras works closely with the US EPA and other regulators to develop an initial battery removal, load discharge, and transportation plan," said Yaeger.
The smoke from the battery fire is still on people's minds who live near where the fire erupted.
The new dashboard shows the ongoing testing of water, soil, and screen results since the fire erupted.
"With respect to all of the information that's being put out, it is information that we're being transparent so that people would know what we know. It also speaks to the importance of continued testing and monitoring," said Ric Encarnacion with Environmental Health.
"The community wants to know they want to be informed so they can make their best assessment for what's going on for them," said Nicole Gillott, who works in Moss Landing.
This is coming on the heels of the introduction of a new bill, Assembly Bill 303. Introduced by Assembly Member Dawn Addis, the bill aims to improve safety and restore local oversight for energy storage facilities.
Ecarancion said that while no changes to the current codes and standards have been made, they would be implemented if they related to environmental health protection.
"No updates from the Environmental Health Bureau with regards to pending codes, but if there are any updated codes that would pass and that would affect the local activities, definitely the Environmental Health Bureau would be involved with regards to anything related to hazardous material storage or management," said Encarnacion.
The big question remains: Will Vistra's plant return online? Vistra did not have an answer.
