Moss Landing Health Issues Report - Part 1
- Jeff Jorgenson
- Sep 23
- 6 min read
This part of the Moss Landing fire story has more questions than answers. There still is no toxicology report. But now we do have this cool website that provides the latest on the monitoring data available.
In response to the January 16th fire a Unified Command following a well defined emergency response plan sprang into action! Or did it? Once the fire was out, who is responsible for the numerous health issues complaints by the community?
Here’s what was reported in the aftermath.
EPA
The EPA arrived on the scene approximately 2 a.m. on January 17. Though the EPA signed off on the air quality around Moss Landing, on January 29th, KAZU reported “a group at San Jose State University’s Moss Landing Marine Laboratories found levels of nickel, manganese, and cobalt that were hundreds to 1,000 times higher than baseline in the soil.
That information was shared by Dr. Ivano Aiello Department Chair Department: Geological Oceanography at the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (MLML) - who added, “Those metals, which are known to be toxic...might start moving across habitats”.
Dr. Aiello recently shared with Mission City Research that he and his team plan to publish their follow-up monitoring results after it is peer reviewed.
Angie Roeder worked with her neighbors to start a Facebook page to share their experiences and to urge officials to investigate whether harmful particles from smoke may be affecting people’s health. The group has about 3,100 members.
“They weren’t testing for all the chemicals that were being released from the batteries,” she said. “So that’s why, as a community, we were asking for additional testing, because we all still had symptoms.”
“Since the fire, she has had headaches, shortness of breath and a metallic taste in her mouth.”
Dr Aiello, added, “This is a new and fast-growing technology, and we must understand the ecological impacts in the event that accidents like this happen again.”
The Elkhorn Slough Foundation, a nonprofit that works with government agencies to help conserve the area, is planning to track if and how the heavy metals move through the ecosystem and affect wildlife.
“As tragic as this incident was, it gives us a chance to look at the longer-term effects of having these kinds of incidents in the battery storage industry,” said Mark Silberstein, the director of the Elkhorn Slough Foundation.
Lawsuit Filed
On February 7th Monterey County Now’s David Schmalz reported that on "Feb. 4 in Alameda County Superior Court, four Monterey County residents—Mary-Eliza Schmidt, Austin Walker, Renee Davidson and Bruce Thomas—filed a joint lawsuit against Vistra and PG&E, among other parties, for harm caused to them relating to the fire that started Jan. 16 at Vistra’s Moss Landing battery plant.” PG&E is based in Oakland. Singleton Schreiber, LLP is representing the plaintiffs. “Erin Brockovich has joined forces with the firm “to fight for accountability.””
Singleton Schrieber publishes periodic updates here.
Survey
March 12th, Erik Chalhoub from Monterey County Now shared his experience of the fire and taking the Monterey County survey - Health officials want to know your experience with the Vistra fire—whether you were impacted or not.
Karen Smith of the County of Monterey Health Department said, “”that the survey has received about 1,000 responses so far. Once the survey closes, the data will be compiled and released to the public.”
The Survey has been tabulated, a summarized and published. They ended up with 1275 responses: Survey results.
Heavy Metal
March 26th NBC Bay Area followed-up the story with: Heavy metals found in dust miles from Moss Landing battery fire. “Residents felt their own sampling was needed. Brian Roeder, a co-founder of the activist group Never Again Moss Landing led the dust sampling effort.”
“There is reason to be concerned,” Don Smith, an environmental toxicologist at UC Santa Cruz who specializes in heavy metals, said of the of the findings. The dust residents collected using swab samples taken from flat, non-metallic surfaces reflects notably higher levels of nickel, cobalt and manganese…”.
“Kim Solano, owner of the Haute Enchilada Café. “We're just waiting for the answers,” said Solano, who has suffered respiratory issues along with her husband. The couple recently filed a federal suit against Vistra.”
Never Again
On March 27th Monterey County Now this time with David Schmalz reporting covers a lot of ground: The Vistra fire in Moss Landing caught everyone by surprise. What can we learn from it? This article gives the background and a great timeline of the incident and its physical toll on residents health.
“Prunedale resident Shiree Goins was likewise laid out by the fire. On Jan. 21, her birthday, she woke up feeling dizzy and lightheaded, and had a splitting headache. She told her husband they had to leave the house the next day – they did, she said, staying at an AirBnB for two weeks before finding a new home. Goins said she’d been to numerous doctors, and that tests showed all her organs were functioning normally. To find out what was causing the symptoms, she was told, she’d need to see a toxicologist.
The article also documents the origins of "Never Again Moss Landing, a community group for residents to share information and resources.” Founded by Brian Roeder.
More Lawsuits
On Feb. 27, Moss Landing residents Kim and Luis Solano, owners and proprietors of the Haute Enchilada restaurant in Moss Landing, which has shuttered in the wake of the fire, filed a federal lawsuit against a similar group of defendants, excluding PG&E. Moss Landing residents Sofia and Jonathan Vitale – Sofia is the Solanos’ daughter – filed a federal suit against the same defendants March 12.
On March 10, the Roeders and 50 other plaintiffs, including Goins, filed a lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court against a number of defendants including Vistra, PG&E and LG Energy Solution, the manufacturer of the batteries at Moss 300.
Erin Brockovich
On March 27th Tania Ortiz provided a thorough report on Erin Brockovich’s involvement in the Moss Landing aftermath. In Moss Landing, activist Erin Brockovich finds a community searching for answers to battery facility fire
Ms. Brockovich 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.”
Mystery
March 28th Jael Holzman (@jael.bsky.social) writing for Heat Map News published a remarkable article, The Mystery of the Moss Landing Battery Fire. It’s only available via subscription so I can’t link to it.
She reports: “When you burn [batteries] it moves toxic chemicals into the air,” said Tracey Woodruff, a former EPA senior scientist and policy advisor specializing in chemical contamination of the environment, who now works at the University of California San Francisco. “If this is an uncontrolled burn, you can’t just say there isn’t going to be fallout from that or exposure to the population.”
“A county health advisory shared with local medical professionals in February urged doctors to complete a comprehensive physical of anyone concerned about the impacts of the fire on their health. It noted that breathing or coming into direct skin contact with “heavy metal dusts and other particulate matter from smoke” can result in a metallic taste and difficulty breathing, as well as exacerbate underlying conditions like asthma.”
In Part 2 we’ll look at our local response and frustration.