Media Coverage
Research on the environmental impacts of the Moss Landing battery fire has received extensive coverage from local, national, and international media. The articles below document the development of the project, from the initial field investigations through publication of the Scientific Reports study.
USA Today
SJSU Scientist links surge in heavy metals in soil to California lithium battery plant fire
Scientists at San Jose State University say that a large fire that burned at a battery plant in Monterrey County, California earlier this month has left heightened levels of heavy metals in a nearby nature reserve.
CBS News Bay Area (lead story in 6 pm newscast)
Elevated concentrations of heavy metals have been detected at the Elkhorn Slough Reserve by scientists from San Jose State University’s Moss Landing Marine Laboratories following a recent fire at Vistra Moss Landing Power Plant and Energy Storage Facility.
San Francisco Chronicle
SJSU Scientists find toxic metals in California wetland after Moss Landing battery plant fire
“Three elements, in particular, were very, very high,” said Ivano Aiello, professor and chair of San Jose State University’s Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, who has been studying Elkhorn Slough Reserve for more than a decade. The concentrations of manganese, cobalt and nickel were hundreds to a thousand times higher than previous measurements.
Los Angeles Times (limited free access)
Scientists at San José State University recorded a dramatic increase in nickel, manganese and cobalt — materials used in lithium ion batteries — in soil samples at the Elkhorn Slough Reserve after the recent fire at the nearby Moss Landing Power Plant
KRON-TV
SJSU Scientist Discovers Heavy metal particles by Moss Landing power plant fire
The Pajaronian
Study by SJSU scientist shows ‘heavy concentrations’ of heavy metals in soil after Moss Landing Fire
One day after a group of Santa Cruz County residents collected soil samples from the areas impacted by the Jan. 16 battery storage facility fire at the Moss Landing Power Plant to test for heavy metals, a San Jose State University Professor released the results of a study confirming their suspicions. The study of a two-mile radius around the plant by Professor
Ivano Aiello found an “unusually high concentrations of heavy-metal nanoparticles in marsh soils at Elkhorn Slough Reserve “after the fire,” with increases of a hundredfold to a thousandfold from previous testing.
Santa Cruz Sentinel (Behind a paywall)
Santa Cruz County supervisors join call for independent investigation into Moss Landing battery fire
KION-TV
High levels of cobalt, Vistra fire relief discussed during news briefing
The Mercury News
Moss Landing battery fire: Officials give update on preliminary findings of heavy metals near site
KSBW-TV
Lawsuit filed against Vistra and PG&E over Moss Landing battery facility fire
KION-TV
Vistra, PG&E, other agencies named in civil lawsuit filed after battery plant fire
Santa Cruz Sentinel
Nature will aid Elkhorn Slough’s recovery from battery fire aftermath
NBC Bay Area
Moss Landing battery fire hit plant with older, vulnerable technology, expert says
The New York Times story is posted. Ivano is not quoted, but his research is mentioned.
KQED
Dr. Ivano Aiello, the chair of San José State’s Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, said after the fire, his lab tested the soil in a 2-mile radius of the plant, which is near the Elkhorn Slough estuary. After taking multiple measurements from about 100 locations, his lab observed a hundreds-fold rise in the concentration of the three toxic heavy metals along the top layer of the soil.
The Mercury News
Professor and chair of SJSU’s Moss Landing Marine Laboratories comments on Moss Landing battery fire: Unusually high concentrations of toxic metals found in wetlands near plant
“Those three metals are toxic,” said Ivano Aiello, a marine geology professor at Moss Landing Marine Labs, who led the soils testing. “They are hazardous to aquatic life. We want to understand how they will move and interact with the environment, whether they will make it through the food web and at what level — from microbes to sea otters.”
KSBW-TV
Research scientists at San José State University’s Moss Landing Marine Laboratories said they have detected “unusually high concentrations of heavy-metal nanoparticles in marsh soils at Elkhorn Slough Reserve” after the Moss Landing battery facility fire on Jan. 16.
Monterey Herald
Research scientists at San Jose State University’s Moss Landing Marine Laboratories detected “unusually high” concentrations of heavy-metals microscopic particles in marsh soils, including nickel, cobalt and manganese. Levels were roughly 100 to 1,000 times higher than normal.
SF Gate/Bay City News
Elevated concentrations of heavy metals have been detected at the Elkhorn Slough Reserve by scientists from San Jose State University’s Moss Landing Marine Laboratories following a recent fire at Vistra Moss Landing Power Plant and Energy Storage Facility, one of the world’s largest lithium-ion battery storage facilities.
KION-TV
Lookout Santa Cruz
Researchers from San Jose State University’s Moss Landing Marine Laboratories found high levels of nickel, manganese and cobalt in soil at the Elkhorn Slough Reserve following the fire that sparked Jan. 16 at a battery storage facility in Moss Landing.