Moss Landing researchers release findings on heavy metals from battery fire.

The scientists at Moss Landing Marine Labs were not well-versed in studying batteries, nor how they break down in soils or estuarine wetlands. But after a lithium-ion battery fire erupted on Jan. 16 at the world’s largest battery energy storage system (BESS) – only a mile from the Moss Landing facility, evacuating 1,200 residents and sending smoke and ash across swaths of North County – researchers got to work collecting samples three days after the fire to assess concentrations of heavy metals deposited from the plume.

Lead researcher Ivano Aiello presented the results, published in Scientific Reports on Nov. 26, at Moss Landing Marine Labs on Tuesday, Dec. 2. “I knew very little about batteries about 10 months ago,” he told an audience of colleagues and community members.

The study, conducted by Aiello and seven other researchers alongside a list of collaborators, provides a snapshot of how manganese, nickel and cobalt were dispersed among soil sediments in several areas of Hester Marsh in Elkhorn Slough. The team found initially high concentrations of these metals following the fire. It was found in patches, with levels that declined rapidly over three months due to precipitation and tidal inundation. In other words, if they hadn’t sampled quickly, and sampled in large amounts, they could have missed finding the battery metal fallout across the landscape.

Aiello emphasized that they only looked at bare soil samples, not plants – an important distinction, he noted. “There is a whole story about plants, that’s where the stuff really fell on. When we started measuring plants, we freaked out,” he said, “and it happens to be that there are agricultural fields all around.”

Plants, aquatic environments and animals all take up heavy metals differently, requiring continued study. Amanda Kahn, an invertebrate ecologist at Moss Landing Marine Labs, is currently researching whether or not these metals could be moving into food webs.

Their research contrasts sampling done by California Department of Toxic Substances Control, which reported lower concentrations of heavy metals. Aiello explained this difference stems from sampling: DTSC dug deeper into the soil to collect samples, reducing the amount of heavy metals largely found on the surface.

“I kept telling [DTSC], you’re diluting it,” he said. “The sampling is key to detect these metals. Protocols are made for a specific reason.”