After a large Monterey County lithium-ion battery storage site exploded, residents said several energy companies failed to maintain proper fire safety at the facility after spewing toxic gases into the air and scattering heavy metals on the ground. He filed a lawsuit denounced.
According to local officials, the flames began on January 16th after a failed fire control system was found inside the battery storage area of the Moss Landing Power Station. The facility, 18 miles above the coast from Monterey, smoldering for four days, prompting temporary evacuation of more than 1,200 residents.
The lawsuit was filed Thursday by four residents against Texas-based Vistra Energy. LG energy solution with lithium-ion batteries installed in the facility. Pacific Gas & Electric owns an adjacent battery storage facility, according to the complaint.
It accuss businesses of “adding benefits to people” by failing to properly maintain fire control systems and failing to comply with the latest fire safety standards. The recent flame was the fourth fire at the facility since 2019, and what the lawsuit alleges has not addressed years of safety concerns.
“Once again, businesses can cut corners with safety and the community can suffer from consequences,” says Erin Broccovich, an environmental advocate who works with law firm Singleton Schreiber. said. “We will not stand while our families breathe in the toxic air and worry about the long-term health consequences of this disaster. They deserve transparency, justice and true protection. .”
In the aftermath of the fire, heavy metals are being measured at levels 100-1,000 times higher than usual in soil within a mile of the facility, with residents reporting that they are experiencing skin, eyes and respiratory irritations . The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has determined that levels of particulate matter and hydrogen fluoride gas released into the air during the fire do not pose a risk to public health.
LG declined to comment, and Vistra could not immediately request comment. A PG&E spokesman said the utility is aware of the lawsuit, but the fire is not a PG&E case.
“The Moss Landing Power Plant is adjacent to PG&E’s Moss Landing Electric Short, but is walled and separated,” the utility company said in the statement. “People from the PG&E Systems and Moss Landing Substation have started emergency response procedures when a Vistra battery fire was detected.”
Lithium-ion battery fires are notoriously difficult to extinguish because using water can cause chemical reactions that cause more batteries to ignite. When these batteries burn, they release toxic cocktails of gases, such as hydrogen fluoride, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds.
Despite the peace of mind about the quality of the EPA air during the incident, the lawsuit states that residents have suffered from nose and eyes irritation, difficulty breathing, headaches, nosebleeds, burning lungs, dizziness, shortness of breath, pain, skin irritation, and more. It claims to have caused it. They also claim that the resident’s property was covered in soot, ash and toxic chemicals as a result of the fire.
Residents seek compensatory and punitive damages for expenses such as property damage, health status, loss of income during evacuation, and future costs of environmental repair. They also call for an investigation into the root causes of fires and the industry-wide adoption of updated safety standards and fire precautions.
Chief attorney Gerald Singleton called the fire a wake-up call for the energy storage industry.
“Communities that live near these facilities deserve better protection, transparency and accountability,” he said in a statement. “Energy sustainability should never come at the expense of public safety.”
A Vistra spokesperson previously said the company had completed its own investigation into fire and environmental monitoring around the factory.
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