Burned batteries from Moss Landing power plant fire will be trucked to Nevada

"Tens of thousands of batteries that were damaged in a fire in January at one of the world's largest battery storage plants in Moss Landing will be removed, treated and transferred to a recycling facility in Nevada starting Sept. 22, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday. Two truckloads a day of the batteries will be driven 330 miles to the American Battery Technology Company in McCarran, Nevada, a facility in the desert about 15 miles east of Reno that conducts commercial-scale lithium-ion battery recycling."

"The Moss Landing plant is a former PG&E natural gas-fired power plant located along Monterey Bay that was converted five years ago by Vista, a Texas energy company, into a huge facility where solar power and other electricity could be stored in batteries for use at night and during period of high electrical demand. It caught fire on Jan. 16, sending up a cloud of toxic smoke, and causing authorities to evacuate roughly 1,200 local residents for three days."

"The company recovers materials such copper, aluminum, steel and intermediate lithium from old batteries. Damaged batteries can be unstable, said Kazami Brockman, a civil engineer and on-scene coordinator for the EPA's Moss Landing cleanup. We are focused on removing the batteries from the building and sending them for disposal and recycling in as safe and quick a way as possible."

Removal of damaged batteries from Moss Landing will begin Sept. 22, with two truckloads transported daily 330 miles to American Battery Technology Company in McCarran, Nevada for recycling. The company recovers copper, aluminum, steel and intermediate lithium from old batteries. EPA on-scene coordinator Kazami Brockman said damaged batteries can be unstable and that efforts prioritize safe, quick removal, disposal and recycling. Moss Landing was converted five years ago from a PG&E natural gas plant by Vista into a large battery storage site for solar and other electricity. The site caught fire on Jan. 16, sending up toxic smoke and prompting evacuation of about 1,200 residents for three days. The cause remains under investigation. Vistra's battery plant remains closed; an adjacent PG&E battery storage plant that was not involved is also closed. A natural gas plant on site continues to generate electricity. There were roughly 100,000 battery modules at the facility.

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