Keep Vacaville Safe

04/07/2025

To gain some perspective, this is how dangerous it is to handle a couple of batteries in an EV car. The clean up and restoration needed after a BESS container of 20,000 has burned, takes months. The Moss Landing restoration is estimated to take 1 year or more.

After the wildfires ravaged homes in Los Angeles, California, cleanup crews faced a new challenge: electric car batteries that can explode when damaged.

04/04/2025

Great letter to the editor about our BESS situation in Vacaville

“One year ago, Vacaville had one of the biggest community meetings and it centered around safety. A very large lithium-ion battery energy storage storage(BESS) was proposed to be built near a neighborhood in North Vacaville. Having a large project like that raised serious safety concerns, these facilities can catch fire in an uncontrollable process called “thermal runaway.” They can emit toxic gases and particulate into the air and they can’t be extinguished, so they can burn for days. Our community respectfully asked Vacaville City Council to vote no on the project and they did. Thankfully, Menard Energy was defeated 7-0.

Since that time, there has been a significant uptick in interested parties wanting to build these systems due to Vacaville’s very large PG&E substation near highway 80. Our City and County, realizing the need to do some research, and create a permit process with safety parameters, placed temporary moratoriums on these facilities for 2 years.
Unfortunately, as we sit today, the energy companies have found a work around. A bill passed in 2022 gives all authority to the STATE to permit BESS, and bypass our local authority, including our moratoriums. We now have one project going through this path and they have officially started the application process. This project would be located on 40 acres of prime agricultural land, SID water canals, homes and highway 80. This company also purchased another parcel in the Vacaville City limits they plan to use as an alternative. A second company has informed the county they plan to use the same state process. The second project would be near the same neighborhood that our city council voted NO to protect last year.
This is quickly becoming a problem. Because there’s no site selection criteria and BESS have little regulations. If nothing is done, our city could have multiple BESS projects scattered across North Vacaville haphazardly with no control of where they are located.

On January 16, 2025 Monterey County declared a state of emergency as the Vistra Moss Landing BESS caught fire, urgently evacuating 1,200 residents. Recent reports found that heavy metal contamination tied to the fire were found within 2 miles of the site and contaminated a sensitive habitat for sea otters. Residents in the area are reporting health effects, burning eyes, metallic taste etc. they believe is due to the exposure of the burned batteries. Assembly Member Dawn Addis (D) that represents this district, has proposed new legislation, in response to the disaster, AB303 “The Battery Energy Safety and Accountability Act.” This bill aims to remove the state permit process for BESS. It also requires 3200ft setbacks from homes, schools and hospitals. It would prohibit these projects from being built on protected habitats and prime AG land.
Vacaville and Solano County would benefit greatly by this bill passing. Since there is no effective extinguishing method for BESS fires, the best method to keep our communities safe is controlling where they are placed. We need to be able to permit them where they won’t pose a hazard to our people and the environment. Please encourage our assembly members and senators to support this important bill as our safety depends on it.

Please encourage our assembly members and senators to support this important bill as our safety depends on it.

03/24/2025

🔥 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
In case you’re not up to date :

Vacaville could potentially house MULTIPLE large BESS facilities concentrated in Vacaville. (See the map.)

YES as of right now, they CAN put the battery storage facilities in with a loophole that lets them apply to the state. Our city council and board of supervisors would have NO VOICE and minimal input from the community. IT’S ALREADY HAPPENING!

Developers have already PURCHASED large parcels of land in the unincorporated area very close to where the Menard Energy BESS project was going to be. They intend to bypass our county and apply to the state instead.

There is a new state bill AB303, that will get rid of that state process and return it back to local government. We desperately need this in Vacaville.

Please take a moment and go to this website and send an email urging the committee to approve this bill!

www.safeenergystorage.org/actnow

02/20/2025

The original fire took place January 16th here we are a month later and it’s still smoking. 🔥

https://kion546.com/news/top-stories/2025/02/05/north-county-fire-light-smoke-coming-from-burned-area-at-vistra-battery-facility/?

The first results of data samples and updates on relief efforts for those affected by the Vistra fire took up much of the latest County of Monterey news briefing on Wednesdayy afternoon.

02/19/2025

One month after the catastrophic 🔥 BESS fire, Vistra’s Moss Landing is one fire again. What a nightmare!

https://www.ksbw.com/article/light-smoke-moss-landing-battery-facility-feb-18/63835869?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2z9aRooDMS-c_QNufo4o-cPQwDgpSh9YaLAMUgIfs57ZxSq5fQieOgG-w_aem_-ngtiWBokxvhSJRCgNymfw

The County of Monterey has sent out an alert to residents in the county that potential light smoke was seen coming from the Moss Landing area on Tuesday evening.

01/31/2025

Supervisor Glenn Church represents the district in Moss Landing. CA where they just had the largest BESS fire event ever recorded.

https://www.facebook.com/100089364454283/posts/606767848978692/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

The past few days have been extremely challenging for our community. I want to acknowledge the stress, fear, and frustration many of you feel. Like you, I have deep concerns about the effects of the Moss Landing battery fire on our health and on the environment. Like you, as a resident of North County, I have many questions, and I am committed to ensuring transparency and accountability as we move forward.

When I took office two years ago, I accepted several tours of the Vistra facility, including a tour inside the building that burned. The facility and its safety systems appeared impressive. I was personally given the guarantee that a fire similar to the one that occurred in 2022 at the neighboring PG&E/Tesla operation could not happen at Vistra. We know that is not true. This disaster is worse.

At this point, the remaining Vistra batteries are offline. Assemblymember Dawn Addis, who represents the Moss Landing area, and I have called for an independent investigation into the cause of the fire. We are also demanding that the system stay offline until the cause of the fire is identified, and ironclad safety measures are in place to prevent any future accidents.

In all honesty, I do not know if those guarantees are possible. With this being the fourth fire incident in a little over five years in Moss Landing, it is obvious that this technology is ahead of both government’s ability to regulate it and private industry’s ability to control it.

While the decision to turn the batteries back on rests with the state and Vistra, I will do everything in my power to advocate for the community, including pushing for independent investigations, stricter safety protocols, and everything within the county’s power to prevent the batteries going online.

Both battery storage facilities initially passed the county permit process, including public hearings, with little to no opposition. Vistra got its first permit in 2020. It was approved by the Planning Commission and never appealed to the Board of Supervisors. It was that uncontroversial at the time. That would not be the case now. Unfortunately, the county had the most influence over the battery storage systems when applications were made for permits.

I will be requesting a thorough review of the county’s permitting process and all safety and health regulations relating to the battery storage systems. I am searching for any means possible to halt the operations. The industry needs to better understand its technology before putting communities in harm’s way.

There has been some great news reporting on this story, but there have also been some errors. There is a great deal of misinformation being spread. That is because there are a lot of unknowns. I would urge everyone to doublecheck every source.

Regarding air quality, Monterey Bay Area Air Resource District (MBARD) monitors common pollutants found in smoke, while the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) measures hazardous chemicals like hydrofluoric acid. The EPA has set up operations just a quarter mile from the fire site.

I am hopeful the fire will not erupt again, but that is always possible. There remain heat pockets in the Vistra building where the fire originated. There are still unburned batteries in the building and it is possible for another battery to overheat into a thermal runaway. It will take days for things to cool down to a safe level. Fortunately, every hour that passes reduces that chance.

There have been many questions as to why the fire has not been put out. After thorough discussions with our local fire officials, it is clear that there is no proven way to put out one of these fires once it has reached this magnitude. Attempts to put out battery fires at other sites have only worsened the situation. Water is used initially only when the batteries start to heat, not when flames have emerged. I find the lack of a proven system to extinguish the fires highly alarming. We simply cannot have a fire incident every year or two and expect that to be normal.

Battery technology is essential as we move to renewable energy, electric cars and a less carbon-based economy. It has become readily apparent that we aren’t ready to fully move in that direction at this time. However, there are powerful interests of many types far beyond Monterey County that see accidents of this nature acceptable. I will never relent from fighting back against these forces.

Both industry and government must be accountable for prioritizing safety. I will push for stricter regulations and advocate for stronger oversight. I will also pursue every means possible to keep the operations at Moss Landing from going back online.

In the coming weeks, I will host a community forum to hear your thoughts and provide updates. As we navigate this situation, I promise to keep you informed and fight for the safety and well-being of our community. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to my office with questions or concerns. You can reach us at 831-755-5022 or [email protected]

Sincerely,

Glenn Church
District 2 Supervisor

01/30/2025

Citizens are organizing their own surface sampling for heavy metals on their properties due to contamination concerns from the Moss Landing Bess fire.

Local scientist starts grassroots samples collection for Moss Landing fireSubscribe to KSBW on YouTube now for more: http://bit.ly/1lOewHSGet more Monterey n...

01/29/2025

Vistra owner / operator of the Moss landing battery plant issued this statement after learning about the contamination of soil in the Elkhorn Slough:

“Surface sampling continues to be conducted and analyzed by CTEH, the third-party consultant, in consultation with EPA and Monterey County Health Department. We are aware of the news accounts from Monday regarding testing done by San Jose State University but have not received details about their findings or the data. We expect that the health agencies will evaluate those test results, and we will work with them to determine any next steps following their review.
"Air monitoring data collected by EPA and CTEH did not detect hazardous substances of concern in the air during or after the event. Air monitoring is ongoing at the site's perimeter and will continue in the near term.
"Vistra will continue to cooperate with the local health agencies to continue our testing protocols and will share additional information with the public as it is available."

Vistra responds to San Jose State's finding of a heavy metal spike in soils near their Moss Landing battery storage facility.

01/29/2025

This is devastating news! The environmentally sensitive area for sea otters has been contaminated with high concentrations of heavy metals. These metals are directly tied to cathodes from lithium batteries that burned in the Moss Landing battery energy storage fire.
More tests will come back. Farmers nearby are worried about contamination of their organic crops🔥 This kind of forever chemical contamination is what we fear for Vacaville.

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."

01/29/2025

“Vistra’s incident response website links to an emergency plan that the company developed after the two incidents with overheating batteries at its plant in 2021 and 2022 — which shows that the company may have underestimated the risk a fire at its facility might pose to communities in the surrounding area.
The document includes a “worst case” scenario mode developed by a third-party risk consultancy, which assumes that the fire would be extinguished after 30 minutes — a short amount of time, given that battery fires are known to be extremely challenging to put out.
Last week’s incident shows how far off the emergency plan’s assumption was: The fire burned for two days, and smoldering was still ongoing at least one week after the fire”

https://hntrbrk.com/vistra-fire/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1IjpjBfq9r3iUuJYLf8Er-pUsAK0_7LrMEp686Iuqd4wVwpf3PdDLiTT8_aem_rLcWFj3omEk86DTHx9RKGQ

People living close to the fire site report symptoms ranging from burning eyes and sore throat to headaches and nosebleeds.

01/25/2025

After Huge Monterey County Battery Fire, Locals Describe, Nause, Headaches and a metallic taste in their mouth.

A week after the fire at a Moss Landing energy storage facility, official tests so far haven’t shown toxins, but some experts worry the results aren’t giving the full picture.