A business park in South San Jose. Jack London Square in Oakland. The San Diego waterfront. Next door to a high school in Santa Barbara County. Across California, large battery storage plants are being planned and constructed in dozens of locations at a pace faster than anywhere else in the United States.

Vistra Energy, PG&E and other defendants face allegations of negligence following Moss Landing battery facility fire in new lawsuit

Moss Landing residents have filed a lawsuit against Vistra Corp. and PG&E over the lithium-ion battery storage facility fire last month that triggered evacuations and environmental concerns in the area.

After a massive lithium ion battery storage site exploded into flames in Monterey County — spewing toxic gases into the air and scattering heavy metals over the ground — residents have filed a lawsuit accusing multiple energy companies of failing to maintain adequate fire safety at the facility.

Researchers have found unusually high concentrations of toxic heavy metals in surface soils at Elkhorn Slough Reserve in Moss Landing. A group at San Jose State University’s Moss Landing Marine Laboratories found levels of nickel, manganese, and cobalt that were hundreds to 1,000 times higher than baseline.

The fire at the Vistra Energy lithium battery plant in Moss Landing sparked the conversation about the facility’s storage system.

A group of community members filed a lawsuit against Vistra Corp., a Texas-based company that owns the Moss Landing power plant and battery storage facility. The lawsuit demands a full investigation into what caused the fire on Jan.

Ryan Yamamoto reports on a lawsuit filed against Vistra Corp. and PG&E over last month.s Monterey County lithium battery facility fire.