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Monterey County posts final PEA on Moss Landing VISTA incident; county says panel findings, state comments posted for transparency
Summary
Monterey County released the final Preliminary Environmental Assessment (PEA) on the Moss Landing VISTA thermal incident and posted consultant findings and state agency comments; county staff say the report does not close the matter and additional ecological and groundwater evaluations may follow.
Monterey County on July 29 released the final Preliminary Environmental Assessment (PEA) related to the Moss Landing VISTA thermal-runaway incident, county Environmental Health Director Rick Encarnacion said. "Today, we are releasing the preliminary environmental assessment report related to the Moss Landing VISTA Thermal Runaway Incident," Encarnacion said, describing the county's role as coordinator of off-site sampling and partner review.
Marnie Flagg, assistant bureau chief, said the consultant that prepared the PEA concluded the soil, sediment and surface-water samples "did not pose an unacceptable risk to human health or the environment." She emphasized that conclusion reflects the consultant's analysis and the process included review and comment from state partners. "None of these agencies rejected the report, and none fully endorsed every conclusion in the report," Flagg said, noting reviewers — including the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) and the Central Coast Water Board — submitted questions and requested clarifications.
County staff said the report is a milestone but not the final word. They identified outstanding items in agency letters and attachments that will guide additional work, including targeted ecological evaluation, further biological sampling in nearby areas and continuing groundwater investigations under an order from the Central Coast Water Board. Flagg said the report and the state partner comments will be posted on the County’s ReadyMonterey website and the public can submit questions to ehinfo@countyofmonterey.gov to help staff route technical queries to the consultant.
County officials also addressed independence concerns: they described the PEA as a collaborative product produced under state agency guidance and facilitation by county environmental health, not as a purely independent county-authored risk assessment. "We brought the state partners and VISTA and their consultant together to produce the report," Encarnacion said, adding that the county will not provide an independent reinterpretation of the consultant's data and that supervisors will receive the report and partner comments for oversight.
The county said the PEA documents and associated state letters were released at 1:00 p.m. and will remain available for public review as next steps and technical follow-up are determined.
