Couple sues over Moss Landing fire
Fire at battery facility in Moss Landing.
MOSS LANDING, Calif. - A lawsuit was filed Thursday in response to the impacts of the Jan. 16 fire at Vistra's Moss Landing Battery Energy Storage Facility.
Attorneys for Kim and Luis Solano, owners of The Haute Enchilada in Moss Landing, filed the lawsuit in the Northern District of California against Texas-based Vistra Corporation and other parties.
The Solanos had to close their business along with all the other businesses on Moss Landing Road, while the fire burned for two days. The fire forced the evacuation of 1,200 residents, closed Highway 1, and left local businesses struggling.
The Solanos also faced many canceled Airbnb reservations on several rental properties that they own in the Moss Landing area due to the fire. The couple said they have experienced symptoms similar physical to other residents in Monterey County and Santa Cruz County that fell within with the smoke plume. Symptoms range from sore throats and headaches to respiratory issues such as shortness of breath and rashes.
The lawsuit names Vistra Energy and its subsidiaries, including Dynegy Operating Company, as well as various LG Energy Solution subsidiaries, who manufactured and supplied the batteries Vistra used at the Moss 300 building, as defendants. The complaint alleges that Vistra used older and less stable NMC batteries produced by LG and employed a flawed battery storage design in the former PG&E building. The Jan. 16 fire was the fourth fire at the facility since 2021.
There have been at least five environmental tests conducted so far, according to Monterey County spokesperson Nicholas Pasculli at a public meeting on Feb. 13.
Air monitoring by the federal Environmental Protection Agency between Jan. 17 and Jan. 20 showed that hydrogen fluoride and particulate matter posed no threat to the public health.
San Jose State University's Moss Landing Marine Laboratories was the first to announce their screening test of the wetland soils along Elkhorn Slough that run next to the plant. Their samples revealed the presence of elevated metals associated with lithium batteries.
In another screening, volunteers in the community group Never Again Moss Landing gathered 124 swipe samples within a 20-mile radius of the facility. Their results were validated by a professional laboratory and revealed elevated levels of nickel, manganese and cobalt in areas closer to the facility. Those are all materials present in lithium batteries.
Soil tests from the California Department of Toxic Substance Control showed the presence of metals were below any risk to public health.
The Solanos' lawsuit is the second to be filed against Vistra and related companies in connection with the fire. On Feb. 4, the law firm Singleton Schreiber, filed another lawsuit on behalf of four other Moss Landing residents on similar grounds. That suit also alleges negligence, private nuisance and trespass of toxic substances onto plaintiffs' properties.