KQED's The California Report Residents Challenge Official Response a Year After Moss Landing Battery Plant Fire
Jan 27, 2026
Elena Nielsaks, a KAZU reporter who covered the Moss Landing battery plant fire and community response. Laura Fitzgerald, a CapRadio reporter who reported on new California limits for ICE. They dig into lingering health complaints, testing gaps, local distrust of official findings, and proposed state limits on immigration enforcement. Short, urgent reporting from the front lines.
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Residents Describe Acute Health Effects
- Residents described immediate health effects like burning-plastic smells and breathing problems after the Moss Landing battery fire.
- Several people relocated or considered leaving because officials dismissed their concerns, motivating local organizing.
Monitoring Footprint May Understate Exposure
- Air monitoring focused near the plant and used plume models that covered only a few thousand feet.
- Yet a county health survey logged over 1,200 reports of symptoms from residents living well beyond the modeled plume area.
Community Forms Never Again Moss Landing
- Brian Roeder and his family left Prunedale after his wife developed symptoms and then formed Never Again Moss Landing (NAML).
- The group organized community testing and advocacy to demand answers about health and environmental impacts.