Since torn one of the world’s largest battery storage facilities in January with a massive fire, the clean-up crew has not had safe access to some of the burning buildings in rural Monterey County.
The risk of rekindling the fire is too high, preventing crews from starting long and dangerous removal of tens of thousands of lithium-ion batteries.
Now, the process could begin soon.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced this week that it had reached a battery removal agreement with Texas-based Vistra Corp., which owns Moss Landing’s battery energy storage system.
In the 75-page contract signed on July 17, Vistra must submit a detailed work plan to the EPA for all aspects of battery removal and obtain government approval before proceeding.
“Vistra will implement and pay the battery removal and disposal process under EPA’s supervision,” EPA’s scene coordinator Kazami Brockman said at a Monterey County news briefing on Wednesday. “If there is no agreement on EPA satisfaction, the EPA has the authority to take over the cleanup and Bill Tistra will be billed for the cost.”
“We expect this work to last for more than a year due to the technical complexity and the safety measures being implemented to protect workers and communities,” Brockman said.
In an email Wednesday night, Vistra spokesperson Meranda Cohn said “the battery was not removed until this contract was in place.”
The Moss Landing Fire began on January 16th. It smoldered for several days, spewing toxic gases into the air, prompting about 1,500 people to be evacuated. Firefighters burned it, citing the risk of absorbing lithium-ion battery fires with water. This can cause dangerous chemical reactions.
According to Vistra, the fire included a 300 megawatt system, which includes a 300 megawatt system consisting of about 4,500 cabinets, and ignited each.
Such battery systems store excess energy generated during the day and release it into the power grid when demand is high, including evening hours. These facilities are seen as essential to stabilizing the state’s electric grid and conserving solar and wind power for use when the solar and wind are not shining, making them appear essential to advance the transition to cleaner energy.
However, Vistra’s fire exposed the inherent dangers of large-scale battery storage, prompting state and federal regulators to seek strong safety protocols.
According to Vistra, of the 99,000 LG battery modules in the building, approximately 54,450 were burned.
On February 18th, the fire reignited and burned for several hours. Vistra wrote on its website, “Given the nature of this situation and the damage to the battery, additional instances of smoke and flare-up are possible.”
Damaged buildings are filled with burnt and unaffected lithium-ion batteries, but remain volatile, slowing down cleanup and complicating it.
“The challenge here is that you have batteries in different states of charge and can still hold the charge.
Over the past six months, crews have removed fire debris, including asbestos, and cut off safe, accessible batteries to reduce the risk of re-flames, according to the EPA.
A major fire broke out at the Moss Landing Power Plant on January 16th, 2025.
(KSBW via Associated Press)
Parts of the building are “completely inaccessible,” Ramon Albizu, scene coordinator on EPA’s lead, said in an interview Thursday. He added that 99,000 modules within the building had been damaged to varying degrees.
“We need to carefully destroy the buildings so that we can reach all the modules,” Albiz said. “That requires a lot of planning.”
He said the fire, EPA, Vistra and other regulatory bodies have developed more than 30 work plans related to demolition and battery removal. Work to stabilize the building must begin by the end of the month, he added.
The Moss Landing Fire was fired nine days after the onset of the fatal Palisade and Eaton fire in Los Angeles County. The EPA has been pressured by the Trump administration to work quickly in Southern California, removing roughly 300 tons of dangerous household debris, including over 1,000 lithium-ion batteries, from the massive combustion zones of Altadena and Pallisard in the Pacific, within 28 days.
According to Albizu, Moss Landing’s battery removal is very different to the removal of small batteries in Southern California, much of which comes from electric vehicles. In the Vistra building, each of the 99,000 batteries is about four feet long and weighs over 200 pounds, he said.
“It’s unprecedented,” Albiz said of the battery plant fire.
According to the EPA, when each battery is removed, the remaining energy is transferred to another source. If the batteries are not too damaged, the crew will drain them through salt water, and during that time they will be soaked in water and salt solution.
The batteries will then be transported offsite for disposal, Vistra’s project development director David Yeager said Wednesday at a Monterey County news briefing.
In a statement to the Times Thursday, Mostey County Superintendent Glen Church said at Glen Church in the district, including Moss Landing, “it took so long for the cleanup to begin, but safety must be a priority.”
According to Vistra, the cause of the flames is “unknown” and is still under investigation by the company. The California Public Utilities Commission is also conducting ongoing investigations.
Vistra Fire has shaken up California’s clean energy industry and plans for more battery plants that state leaders are actively pursuing.
In the Wall Street Journal Op-Ed published Wednesday, Gavin Newsom touted California’s transition to renewable energy, writing that it was “time for America to follow California’s lead.”
He writes that the ability to store clean electricity is a “critical factor” in achieving clean energy goals, and over the past six years, the state has added 15,000 megawatts of battery storage capacity, sufficient to meet a quarter of electricity demand.
“More than that is ongoing,” Newsom wrote. “Including the world’s largest battery project, it is now permitted in Fresno County through California’s new First Track permit process.”
In addition to additional safety regulations for battery storage, The Blaze has urged a call for more local control over where the storage sites are.
A survey of nearby residents conducted by the Monterey and Santa Cruz counties health departments found that 83% of respondents said they had experienced at least one symptom. Almost a quarter of respondents said they had a breathing problem, and 39% reported a metallic taste in their mouths.
Surveys conducted in February and March voted 1,539 people who lived or worked in the area at the time of the fire.
Knut Johnson, an attorney for the law firm Singleton Schreiber, said hundreds of nearby residents have been accusing them of failing to maintain a proper fire safety system, including Vistra, LG Energy Solution and Pacific Gas & Electric.
Johnson said the plaintiff was “very worried” about the remaining batteries at the scene.
“These burned batteries still contain a lot of toxins,” Johnson said. “The wind blows, the evening mist gets caught up in, and particles are suspended in the water. There are many ways for the remaining toxins to circulate around the community.”
The fire “acts as a wake-up call,” Johnson said for those who want to build battery storage facilities near residential areas and sensitive ecosystems.
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