EPA Oversees Largest Lithium-Ion Battery Cleanup in Agency History at Moss Landing
Following work to delink batteries and stabilize severely fire-impacted Moss Landing 300 Building, crews begin removing, treating lithium-ion batteries
MOSS LANDING, Calif. (Sept. 29, 2025) – Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began oversight of the removal of lithium-ion batteries from the Moss Landing, California battery energy storage facility impacted in a January 2025 fire, marking the start of an unprecedented battery cleanup effort. EPA will provide oversight as Vistra Corp.’s contractors remove the first group of battery modules from the damaged Moss Landing 300 building and prepare them for safe transport and proper recycling at approved facilities.
“After months of careful planning and prep work by our experts to safely execute this unprecedented lithium-ion battery cleanup, the removal of potentially dangerous batteries begins,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Region Superfund and Emergency Management Director Mike Montgomery. “Safety will remain our top priority throughout the process – for workers, first responders, and the surrounding community. EPA will continue to be on-the-ground overseeing the removal of these batteries as quickly and safely as possible.”
Over the past several weeks, EPA has overseen structural stabilization and partial demolition work on the fire-impacted building to provide for the safe entry of workers to access the battery modules. Structural engineers cleared key areas of the building for entry this week.
Crews are beginning to enter the building and remove each battery module individually so it can be discharged, thus minimizing the risk of fire. Each battery module will be properly treated based on its level of damage, packaged, and loaded onto trucks for transport. Material that can be isolated for recycling will be diverted for recycling at EPA-approved recycling facilities, including the American Battery Technology Company in McCarran, Nevada.
Air monitoring and air sampling activities, as well as fire and smoke watch, will continue in order to immediately detect safety risks to workers and the surrounding community. In addition, thermal cameras will be used to monitor for rises in temperature in the batteries that could indicate a risk of thermal runaway (or a flare-up). Dust mitigation measures, including water trucks and street sweeping, are also being implemented. Any water captured on-site by the stormwater system, including any firefighting water used in the case of a flare-up, will be contained and sampled prior to proper disposal.
EPA and Vistra are coordinating with local agencies to send out community alerts in the case of a fire or smoke event and will activate an EPA-approved emergency response plan in response to any flare-ups.
The public can track updates on the battery removal process and learn more about the safety measures being put in place for workers and the community at EPA’s Moss Landing Battery Fire Response webpage.
Background
On January 16, 2025, a fire broke out at Vistra’s 300-megawatt battery energy storage facility in Moss Landing. The facility contained approximately 100,000 lithium-ion battery modules, of which about 55 percent were damaged in the incident. The fire continued until January 18 and experienced a flare-up on February 18. EPA has remained involved in the response since the first night of the fire.
Damaged lithium-ion batteries pose an ongoing risk of fire. Lithium-ion battery fires can produce hydrogen fluoride and other flammable or toxic gases. To reduce the risk of another fire, the batteries were delinked and now will be removed from the fire-damaged Moss Landing facility. Following removal, they will be treated for safe transport and disposal or recycling.
Vistra is considered a potentially responsible party under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). In July the company entered into an Administrative Settlement Agreement and Order on Consent, in which Vistra agreed to perform and pay for the costs of battery removal and disposal under EPA’s oversight. EPA will continue to oversee cleanup activities at Moss Landing 300 until the batteries and related materials have been removed from the site.
Learn more at EPA’s Moss Landing Battery Fire Response webpage.
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