Government health officials haven’t determined whether last month’s fire at the world’s largest lithium battery plant exposed nearby Monterey, Calif., residents to dangerous toxins—nor have they issued any precautions to the general public. But an agricultural toxicology specialist immediately sounded the alarm when he saw the results from one of the soil tests following the blaze.
“I’m not sure people should be living around there,” University of California, Davis, assistant professor Olukayode Jegede told the Washington Free Beacon. “People shouldn’t stay there.”
Even though the test results are only preliminary, Jegede stressed caution because of health risks associated with exposure to high levels of cobalt. One test site showed particularly dangerous concentrations, with one sample containing nearly 580 times the acceptable limit, which could cause health problems like asthma, pneumonia, and skin rashes, Jegede said.
The Jan. 16 lithium battery fire at Vistra Energy’s Moss Landing Power Plant sent a sharp chemical smell throughout the surrounding area. Some residents immediately fled—including a Ukrainian woman who remembers the Chernobyl disaster—and the county issued an evacuation order, but that was lifted by the next evening.
EPA tests consistently showed there were no air quality threats. But since a thick black smoke billowed out of Moss Landing, locals have complained of health issues, including burning eyes, breathing problems, and rashes—symptoms consistent with exposure to hydrogen fluoride, which lithium-ion battery fires produce, the Free Beacon has reported. At high levels, the compound can “cause death from an irregular heartbeat or from fluid buildup in the lungs,” according to the CDC.
A Facebook group, “Moss Landing Power Plant/Vistra Fire Symptoms,” has amassed over 3,300 members. Many have posted concerns about buying local produce out of fear that they’ve been contaminated with toxins from the blaze.
Still, three weeks since the Moss Landing fire, local health officials haven’t issued health warnings specific to this disaster beyond recommendations for the immunocompromised or chronically ill to stay indoors or wear masks.
“We have always maintained that with any type of fire or environmental disaster that people that have predispositions to respiratory conditions or are immune compromised or have other chronic illness that environmental conditions can affect should remain indoors and wear a mask,” Monterey County spokesman Nicholas Pasculli said, adding that officials have also told residents with health complaints to seek medical attention.
The county government quietly published preliminary results from soil tests on Jan. 31 and didn’t discuss them until a Wednesday press conference.
Even then, they declined to provide insight into the findings. Instead, they stressed that the results were preliminary and should not be used to draw conclusions about health risks. Monterey County’s director of environmental health, Ric Encarnacion, declined to say when the county will release a conclusive analysis. He said toxicologists are working on that study and that the disaster was extensive and complex.
“There is much more that needs to be done. We have to be very diligent in making our conclusions,” Encarnacion said.
Jegede, meanwhile, warned that cobalt was likely airborne while Moss Landing burned. High exposure to cobalt can share some of the same symptoms as exposure to hydrogen fluoride.
“During the fires, of course, I would expect the concentrations in the air would be very high,” Jegede said. “There would be some serious air pollution at that time, and it might affect people. Over time, it should go down.”
According to a 2014 National Toxicology Program study, cobalt toxicity in humans can cause respiratory problems, including impaired lungs, asthma, interstitial lung disease, wheezing, and difficulty breathing. It can also affect the cardiovascular system. Danger for small animals, plants, and birds varies depending on other environmental factors, Jegede said, although extremely high levels can destroy healthy ecosystems by inhibiting plant growth or causing plant death.
The California Department of Toxic Substances Control on Jan. 24 tested 28 soil samples across 8 sites near Moss Landing “where [ the]public would frequent the most, such as along pathways.” Of the 28, 15 samples had cobalt concentrations exceeding 23 parts per million, the level the EPA warns is unsafe for children to ingest. In fact, 9 samples had cobalt concentrations over 100 parts per million—more than 4 times the EPA limit.
And all five samples at the testing location labeled “Site Eight,” which sits on private property bordering Moss Landing, exceeded the acceptable limits. One hit 1,600 parts per million. Another reached 13,300—nearly 580 times the acceptable limit.
“That’s just too high. That’s crazily high,” Jegede said. He added that the site should probably be contained due to health risks.
When asked about Jegede’s analysis, a county spokesman deferred to the environmental health officials. During Wednesday’s press briefing, Encarnacion dodged the question of whether authorities identified any dangers in their screenings.
“It’s part of a process,” Encarnacion said of the soil samples. “It’s part of a piece of a puzzle that we need to put together to make these statements of the impact.”
“Please do not misconstrue what we released to the public as the final results,” he added.
Officials also collected data on copper, nickel, and manganese concentrations. Scans for those heavy metals showed significantly higher than normal concentrations, according to Jegede. Again, in sight, the levels exceeded the safe limit.
Even though the test results are only preliminary, Jegede believes further analysis using more precise analytical techniques may only show higher—and not lower—levels of cobalt and other heavy metals.
“This is a rough estimate. But even with these rough estimates, it’s high,” he said of the cobalt levels.
County officials did find that local drinking water was safe after testing it for manganese, copper, aluminum, and nickel. They are still awaiting the results of separate drinking water screenings for cobalt, lithium, asbestos, and volatile organic chemicals.
Prior to Monterey County’s initial soil test findings, researchers from nearby San Jose State University found “a dramatic increase” of nickel, manganese, and cobalt at a wetland preserve near the Vistra plant called the Elkhorn Slough. The researchers have been sampling soil from the preserve, which reopened to the public on Jan. 21, for the past decade.
