Monterey County launched a new website this week to provide more information about the recovery from two recent fires at the Moss Landing Vistra Energy battery storage facility.
The recovery process is broken down into three phases and is expected to take several years to complete, according to a press release from the county.
Lithium-ion batteries at the battery energy storage facility caught fire on Jan. 16, causing nearby residential evacuations that were considered precautionary because of unknown hazards posed by the smoke. The battery fire reignited on Feb. 18 before dying back down.
Lithium-ion batteries can spontaneously combust through a process called “thermal runaway,” making their removal a challenge. The fire also left the building housing some of the batteries unsafe to enter, posing another obstacle.
Phase one of the plan involves de-linking the batteries from each other in two stages, completing emergency work to stabilize the building, then fully removing the batteries from the premises.
The first stage of the de-linking will involve removing batteries that are safely accessible. The second stage will take place after the stabilization work allows the remaining batteries to be accessed.
Phase two involves removing debris from the fires, then demolishing the structures that were weakened by the flames, before further debris removal to clear the building rubble.
The final stage would be cleanup and restoration of the site and surrounding soil, including having inspections by the local, state and federal regulators who are overseeing the process, according to Monterey County.
Those agencies include the county’s Health Department and Housing and Community Development Department, the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to the county’s website.
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