Morro Bay City Manager and Council are considering one of world’s largest Lithium storage facilities within a few blocks of neighborhoods where hundreds of people are now living and near Morro Bay high school.
It has been documented and reported by Coastal Commission that the facility of interest is in a tsunami hazard zone and near an earthquake fault. This is the same area deemed too dangerous for a sewer plant.
Lithium batteries stored in a module container is made up toxic elements. Lithium-ion batteries are very sensitive to mechanical damage that may cause an electrical surge. This type of damage could lead an individual battery to overheat rapidly causing a thermal runaway to surrounding batteries causing fires and explosions. When the toxic smoke and fumes escape from the module it will spread across Morro Bay. The city would have to evacuate the area in at least a one-mile radius. Think about getting thousands of people out of town quickly with limited access roads.
Moss Landing facility with only 22 modules has had three shutdowns. Recently September 20th inside one of the modules a possible fire caused the system to shut down and was taken off the grid. The fire department had to evacuate people in a two-mile radius.
Remember, there has never been a lithium-ion storage system this size on the planet. In My opinion the residents of Morro Bay would be used as guinea pigs.
The lithium-ion storage system proposed to be built in Morro Bay is not on the November 8 ballot. Yet, the voters in Morro Bay can stop the project by voting for Carla as Mayor and a supportive City Council, Robin ”Sara,” and Sarah Robinson
Garry Johnson
Morro Bay