MOSS LANDING – The Environmental Protection Agency warned that there could be additional flare ups at the Moss Landing Battery Plant as the crews work to delink the remaining batteries.
Federal on-scene coordinator Eric Sandusky said phase one of the clean up process continues at the Moss Landing Battery Plant, during the county briefing Wednesday, with about 60% of the “accessible” batteries being delinked. All of the batteries were a part of the Jan. 16 fire and Feb. 18 re-ignition. Officials say the phase one process is reducing the risk of larger fires, but there is still a possibility of flare-ups.
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“De-connecting the batteries lessens the chance of thermal runaway,” Sandusky said. “However, given the damage of the facility and the remaining batteries that are still linked together on ranks, we know that it’s likely that other flare-ups will occur.”
North County Fire District is still running point on fire resources, and will be the first to respond in coordination with other county agencies should another flare-up happen. In the meantime Vistra has contracted a private fire company and air resource monitors to continue watching the building 24/7, according to officials.
The remaining batteries are near damaged parts of the building, according to Sandusky and the crew will have to wait until the building is demolished before moving forward.
However, Vistra officials said there is not yet a timeline on when that demolition process will start.
“At this point we are focused on the delinking process,” said Brad Watson, senior director of community affairs for Vistra. “We are considering demolition vendors at this time and we’re going to be very methodical on how to move forward on this process, so there’s not going to be a schedule for a while, I would say months, not weeks.”
The county health department launched a community survey to ask residents about their experience during the fire and any symptoms they may be experiencing at http://www.mtyhd.org/MLFireSurvey. The survey is open to anyone who wants to participate and will be available through March 14.
There is also an application to submit a report to the Monterey County Health Department’s Environmental Health Bureau online at http://www.mtyhd.org/mosslanding-concern-form or by leaving a voice message at (831) 755-4505.
