Battery fire update, Marina bans ICE on city property

KAZU | By Elena Neale-Sacks

Published March 19, 2026 at 2:00 AM PDT

Two tall stacks loom in the background. In the foreground, a highway crosses Elkhorn Slough, a marine estuary right next to the Vistra battery plant. — Local and state scientists disagreed about the potential ecological impact of the 2025 Moss Landing battery fire during a March 17 Monterey County Board of Supervisors meeting.

In today's newscast, Monterey County supervisors are demanding more accountability from Vistra after conflicting reports about the ecological impacts of last year’s battery fire. And, Marina becomes the latest local jurisdiction to ban Immigration and Customs Enforcement from using its property. Plus, share your thoughts on the news about César Chavez: email news@kazu.org.

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Elena Neale-Sacks

Elena is an Emmy award-winning researcher, reporter, and producer. At KAZU, they cover agriculture, housing and homelessness, and the aftermath of the January 2025 lithium battery fire in Moss Landing. Their reporting and research has been featured on NPR, KQED, Netflix, Reveal, CalMatters, and more. Elena is an alum of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and UC Santa Cruz. You can reach them at elena@kazu.org.

See stories by Elena Neale-Sacks