Quick Take
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reached an agreement with Vistra Corp. to remove lithium-ion batteries damaged by a massive fire at its Moss Landing facility in January.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached an agreement with Texas-based Vistra Corp. to remove lithium-ion batteries damaged by a massive fire at its Moss Landing battery facility in January.
Vistra, which owns the Moss Landing battery storage facility, is responsible for paying for and conducting the removal and disposal of lithium-ion batteries that were damaged in the January blaze, according to Kazami Brockman, federal on-scene coordinator for the EPA.
Under the agreement, Vistra is required to submit detailed plans to the EPA on all aspects of the battery removal and disposal process, said Brockman. The federal agency will have complete oversight of the cleanup, he said. If Vistra’s cleanup efforts are not up to the agency’s standards, the EPA will take over the battery removal and disposal.
“We’ll be involved with this project the whole time, until the batteries are gone and the threat to human health and the environment is gone,” Brockman said.
The 300-megawatt facility, the world’s largest battery storage site, caught fire on Jan. 16. It contained nearly 100,000 lithium-ion battery modules, and nearly 55% of the batteries were damaged after the incident. The blaze continued at the site in Monterey County, just south of the Santa Cruz County line, until Jan. 18 and experienced a flare-up a month later on Feb. 18.
Brockman told Lookout that Vistra is taking a “phased approach” to its battery cleanup. The company will first ensure the facility is safe and stable for crews to begin removing the lithium-ion batteries, with that work tentatively set to begin at the end of July, he said. The EPA is anticipating the battery-removal process will take more than a year to complete.
A lot of demolition work needs to be done at the Moss Landing facility in order to access different areas of the building damaged by the fire. “Structural stability is a really big concern when you’re sending people into those areas,” Brockman said.
Once a battery is removed from the building, it will be treated on site, said Brockman. The electricity from the battery will be released and transferred to a different energy source when possible. If batteries are not as intact, crews will discharge the electricity through brining — submerging the battery in a water and salt solution to extract the lithium. Brockman added that the batteries will be recycled.
Vistra is also required to implement air monitoring and air sampling around its property during the removal process, according to the agreement with the EPA. The company would also need to implement an emergency response plan approved by the federal agency in the event that a fire were to break out at the facility during the battery-removal process.
The EPA has launched a website where residents can track the progress of the battery removal.
Last month, Pacific Gas & Electric halted its plans to reopen its Moss Landing facility, located adjacent to the Vistra-owned facility, after crews identified a clamp failure and coolant leak in one of its 256 battery megapacks. PG&E had conducted its own extensive inspection and cleanup before trying to reopen its site.
Vistra did not respond to Lookout’s request for comment by publication time.
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