‘It is a charred, stinking mess’: Moss Landing residents demand action after latest lithium battery fire
KSBW
By Zoe Hunt
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MOSS LANDING, California (KSBW) — Residents of Moss Landing are demanding the removal of lithium battery facilities after another fire forced evacuations and raised health concerns.
“It is a charred, stinking mess. And it is just, and it’s poison now. Okay? We’ve been poisoned,” said Patricia Yeargin, who has a clear view of the Moss Landing towers from her front porch.
“They’re telling us to wear masks. They’re telling us to go inside our house and not come out. They’re telling us they have to, uproot us from our, neighborhoods,” Yeargin said. “And we need to be taken someplace till this thing gets less toxic, for people. So we know what it’s doing to our water down there. We know what it’s doing to our animals.”
As evacuations unfolded quickly, the neighborhood was left with unanswered questions.
“I think to myself ‘Do I want to leave?’ When can I get back? How much traffic is there going to be? Because all the roads are closed.’ We just stayed put. Hunker down,” said Elkhorn resident Christine Teraji. “The next morning, I wanted to know what’s how dangerous. Well, we check in. The EPA takes a long time. You know, it’s like three days go by.”
This is the fourth time Yeargin has been asked to evacuate in recent years due to lithium-battery fires in Moss Landing. Now she is demanding change.
“It is extremely volatile, and it is extremely unhealthy for everything about what it’s done. And it’s going to stop. They need to remove those ones that are down there right now, and they need to stop whatever it is they’re doing inside that building,” said Yeargin.
Residents say if they have to face another fire like this, they want to be notified of evacuations and danger faster than they were on Thursday.
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