Quick Take
Erin Brockovich, whose environmental activism inspired an Oscar-winning film, is serving as a liaison between Moss Landing residents and attorneys in a mass action lawsuit over the January battery storage facility fire. Brockovich joined the lawsuit after receiving dozens of emails from concerned residents. In an interview, she said the Moss Landing community is determined to seek answers.
Any time an environmental incident such as a fire or water contamination occurs, activist Erin Brockovich can usually tell something’s gone wrong when her inbox is flooded with emails from affected communities. So when a fire erupted at a battery energy storage facility in Moss Landing in mid-January, Brockovich said it was no different.
Brockovich woke up on Jan. 17 to at least a dozen emails from Moss Landing residents sharing their frustrations with local officials and letting her know that the one of the world’s largest battery storage facilities was ablaze.
“The very first [emails] I got was, ‘Hey, wait a minute. We know there’s fires down [in Southern California], but why is no one talking about this?” said Brockovich, who lives in the Los Angeles area.
Weeks later, Brockovich — whose work as a whistleblower in a case against Pacific Gas & Electric in Hinkley, California, in the 1990s resulted in the largest environmental settlement of its kind at the time and led to the eponymous Oscar-winning film — was lending her star power and expertise to Moss Landing residents.
She is partnering with Southern California-based law firm Singleton Schreiber in a lawsuit against Vistra Corp., PG&E and LG Energy Solution, among others. The lawsuit alleges Vistra — which owns the battery plant — failed to implement adequate fire safety measures, including proper maintenance, thermal runaway prevention and compliance with updated fire safety standards.
Brockovich, 64, continues to speak and write publicly on environmental issues, including through a Substack newsletter, and often partners with law firms on environmental cases, like Moss Landing, she said.
Since the film “Erin Brokovich” was released 25 years ago, starring Julia Roberts depicting the activist’s work in Hinkley, Brockovich often becomes the go-to person for residents to contact when incidents like Moss Landing or the wildfires in Los Angeles occur, she said. She has yet to visit Moss Landing, but has spoken to residents during virtual town hall meetings hosted by Singleton Schreiber since the lawsuit has been filed.
Brockovich — who is an activist and advocate, not a lawyer — serves as a bridge between Moss Landing residents and the law firm, she said. Communities see her as that trust point, thanks to the film.
The Moss Landing community isn’t calling Brockovich because residents want a lawsuit and money, she said; rather, they want information and answers. Brockovich calls the residents of the town in northern Monterey County one of the strongest and most active communities she’s seen in a while.
Sometimes communities facing similar environmental catastrophes end up backing out of lawsuits out of fear, said Brockovich. But Moss Landing is very different, she said – residents there are very vocal with their concerns and experiences, and not all communities do that.
“They’re on alert, they’re paying attention, they’re observing, they’re communicating, and I just don’t think they’re going to drop this and walk away,” Brockovich said. That makes a difference when facing big corporations like Vistra and PG&E.
Residents told Brockovich that they were confused and frustrated after receiving conflicting information from local officials about sheltering in place and evacuation orders. She also received emails from people experiencing respiratory problems, bloody noses, throat irritation and reporting a metallic taste in their mouths.
Researchers with San Jose State University’s Moss Landing Marine Laboratories found high levels of nickel, manganese and cobalt in soil in the Elkhorn Slough Reserve following the fire. However, the Environmental Protection Agency and Santa Cruz County have released the results of air and soil tests showing contamination levels from the fire were too low to present a public health hazard in Santa Cruz County.
Those official findings stand in stark contrast to the concerns of local residents, Brockovich said. “This is a community that trusts in what they’re experiencing, seeing, breathing and believing,” she said. “They’re a tight-knit community, and they’re very connected to their environment. They’re very connected to their farming. They’re very connected to the community. They’re very connected to the ocean.”
Such lawsuits aren’t always about getting a settlement, she said; in many of the cases she’s been involved in, the plaintiffs are fighting to prevent incidents like the Moss Landing fire from happening again, and want help cleaning up the aftermath. Lawyers can be helpful with future legislation that can help protect communities because they have experience dealing with cases like this one involving large corporations.
Every day there’s information coming to the inboxes of both Brockovich and Singleton Schreiber’s lead attorney, Knut Johnson, she said. People are doing their job keeping a journal to document their symptoms or taking videos. Johnson is advising his clients to monitor their health carefully and ensure that their health care providers are testing them for all different possibilities.
The law firm’s initial filing included four Moss Landing residents suing for damages following the fire, said Johnson. That number has since grown to over 100. Johnson said his firm will need to file an amended complaint with the updated residents.
Johnson also added that the case will be a mass action lawsuit, which is a bit different from a class action lawsuit. A mass action is more appropriate for a case like this because each person has been affected differently, but the root of those impacts is the same, Johnson said. In a class action lawsuit, the allegations or injuries are almost the same.
“We hope to address each person’s injuries separately and uniquely in a way that reflects their circumstance,” Johnson said.
Singleton Schreiber is beginning to conduct its own testing of clients’ well waters, taking soil samples and doing wipe tests — taking a cloth and wiping the particles from a surface, said Johnson. The firm’s set of researchers are supposed to begin testing in the next few days.
“This community is kind of ground zero,” said Brockovich. “Everybody’s going to learn a lot from the situation, including Vistra and PG&E, including legislators, including the law, including the people.”
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