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SEQUENCE:19058834
CREATED:20260113T184400Z
DESCRIPTION:On January 16th, 2025, a fire started at the world’s largest Battery 
 Energy Storage System (BESS) in Moss Landing, 20 miles from UC Santa Cruz. 
 The fire burned for at least two days, creating a plume of smoke that 
 drifted above the nearby estuary of Elkhorn Slough and the surrounding 
 agricultural fields.\n\nWhat were the impacts of this fire on the local 
 ecosystem and communities? What can be learned about energy storage safety? 
 And what is (or should be) the role of BESS technologies in moves towards a 
 just transition? Join us for a panel discussion with marine geologist Dr 
 Ivano Aiello and environmental studies scholars Dr. J. Mijin Cha and Dr. 
 Dustin Mulvaney focused on the climate justice issues raised by the Moss 
 Landing BESS fire.\n\nDr. Ivano Aiello is a marine geologist and Chair of 
 Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, part of San José State University. He 
 earned his Ph.D. in Sedimentology from the University of Bologna and 
 conducted postdoctoral research at the University of California, Santa 
 Cruz. Dr. Aiello’s research focuses on marine sediments, silica 
 diagenesis, and the geological and chemical processes that shape both 
 deep-sea and coastal environments. He has sailed on multiple international 
 ocean-drilling expeditions (IODP) investigating subseafloor life and 
 hydrothermal systems and has led studies on coastal sediment dynamics and 
 environmental change in the Monterey Bay region. At MLML, he directs 
 projects that integrate marine geology, geochemistry, and mapping 
 technologies to understand how natural processes and industrial impacts 
 affect seafloor and wetland ecosystems. His work bridges field observation, 
 laboratory analysis, and data-driven environmental monitoring. 
 \n\nFollowing the Moss Landing battery fire in January 2025, Aiello and his 
 team documented several-fold increase in soil concentrations of 
 battery-derived metals (nickel, cobalt, and manganese) relative to pre-fire 
 baseline levels in Elkhorn Slough wetlands, this study provides the first 
 evidence of toxic metal fallout caused by a fire at one of the world’s 
 largest battery energy storage systems. His findings point to an urgent 
 need for baseline environmental monitoring before future energy storage 
 projects break ground.\n\nJ. Mijin Cha is an assistant professor of 
 environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is 
 also a fellow at Cornell University’s Climate Jobs Institute, a faculty 
 advisory board member for the UCSC Center for Labor and Community, and a 
 fellow at the Climate and Community Institute. Her book, “A Just 
 Transition for All: Workers and Communities for a Carbon-Free Future,” 
 was published by MIT Press in Dec. 2024. Dr. Cha is on the board of 
 Greenpeace Fund and a member of the California Bar.\n\nDustin Mulvaney is a 
 Professor in the School of Policy, Planning, and Environmental Studies at 
 San José State University (SJSU). He is a Fellow with the Payne Institute 
 for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines, and also a Fellow with 
 the Climate + Community Institute. His research includes work on just 
 transitions, solar energy commodity chains, natural resource development, 
 and circular economy. He is author of Solar Power: Innovation, 
 Sustainability, Environmental Justice published by the University 
 California Press in 2019 and Sustainable Energy Transitions: 
 Socio-Ecological Dimensions of Decarbonization with Palgrave-MacMillan in 
 2020, and Energy, Society, and the Environment: A Critical Perspective, 
 that will be out with Wiley-Blackwell in 2026. Dustin’s areas of 
 expertise and research are on land use change, life cycle assessment, 
 recycling & waste, and the environmental justice impacts of energy 
 technologies, supply chains, and infrastructures, with extensive emphasis 
 on the life cycle impacts of solar photovoltaics and lithium-ion batteries. 
 Find more about that research here:  www.dustinmulvaney.com \n\nThis event 
 is presented as part of An Aesthetics of Resilience, a collaborative 
 research initiative of the Institute of the Arts and Sciences and the 
 Friedlaender Lab at UC Santa Cruz. The project brings scientists, artists, 
 humanists, and activists together to examine multiple experiences of 
 vulnerability in the face of climate change and is supported by a 
 University of California Office of the President California Climate Action 
 Seed Grant, with additional support from the Coha Nowark Art + Science 
 Fund.\n\nImage: Fire at Moss Landing Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), 
 2025. Photo by Mike Tataki\n\nFree\n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2026/01/13/18882823.php
SUMMARY:Climate Justice and the Moss Landing Battery Fire
LOCATION:Institute of the Arts and Sciences, 100 Panetta Avenue, Santa Cruz
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2026/01/13/18882823.php
DTSTART:20260206T020000Z
DTEND:20260206T033000Z
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