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EPA, Vistra near settlement for Moss Landing battery debris removal; county waits on ASAOC
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Summary
Federal and responsible parties are finalizing an administrative settlement (ASAOC) obligating Vistra to remove battery modules and structural debris from the July 2024 Moss Landing fire; Monterey County and state agencies are coordinating sampling, and EPA expects the ASAOC to be executed in coming weeks.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and responsible parties are finalizing an administrative settlement agreement and order on consent (ASAOC) under CERCLA that will obligate Vistra (Vistracorp and subsidiaries) to perform battery-module and structural debris removal at the Moss 300 battery energy storage site, county officials told the Monterey County Board of Supervisors July 8.
County emergency management and environmental health staff briefed supervisors on removal planning and community-sampling work. Agency presenters said Vistra and EPA have developed procedures for sorting and testing removed battery modules and identified disposal and recycling pathways under EPA review; one potential destination named in the meeting was American Battery Technology Company in McCarran, Nevada, for battery waste processing.
Vistra and EPA have worked with contractors to categorize removed modules into five types by damage level and contamination, and to develop handling plans ranging from staging, exterior decontamination and crate shipment (for modules deemed externally contaminated but structurally intact) to case-by-case destruction, grinding or brine discharge for severely damaged material. County staff said final decisions on disposal methods and destinations will depend on module condition and EPA concurrence.
EPA and Vistra are also carrying out community and environmental sampling. County environmental health reported two phases of sampling: Phase 1 (soil sampling in Moss Landing and parts of north county) occurred May 8'June 20, with preliminary lab results expected in mid-July; Phase 2 (sediment and surface water sampling in marsh and slough areas) is planned for late August following a Vistra work plan revision due Aug. 11. County staff said TerraPhase has been contracted by Vistra to prepare a technical report that will include a human-health screening and ecological review of all sampling; state agencies including DTSC and CDPH will independently review confirmatory samples and TerraPhase results.
Environmental Health said it had hired an independent toxicologist to review the county's publicly posted data and that an initial QA review found sample sets were not yet complete enough to support a county-prepared human-health risk assessment; county staff said they would focus first on data quality, then on any additional analyses. The county has asked EPA for a robust community-engagement plan; EPA has assigned community-involvement coordinators and expected to post a recovery web page with timelines and documents.
County staff also said they had sent a formal request asking for prompt debris removal; Vistra responded June 4 and EPA provided a June 30 reply. EPA told the board it anticipates an ASAOC will be signed by the parties in the coming weeks; the county does not expect significant removal, packaging or off-site transport of modules in July while planning, contracting and EPA concurrence on disposal routes are finalized.
