In today's newscast:
Soil monitoring at Elkhorn Slough after September battery fire
The most recent fire was shorter than the blaze almost two years ago at Vistra’s battery energy storage facility.
San Jose State University marine geology professor Ivano Aiello says this time, researchers did not find excess metals in the soil, but they did find soot on their boats in the harbor.
"We did find those metals, but they were constrained to the harbor area," said Aiello.
He said soot was on the ocean side. But on the inland side, "we didn't see anything; not in soils, not that we can detect."
Aiello says it took almost a year for Elkhorn Slough soils to return to normal after the first fire. But they also don’t have all the data yet.
"We have been collecting samples, and we freeze them, and there's a lot of samples that haven't been measured yet because there's not enough capacity," he said.
Aiello is urging Monterey County to utilize the Moss Landing Marine Labs research when reviewing environmental impacts of the fires. He hasn’t heard back in months, but he’ll continue doing the work.
El Niño could bring a bad mosquito season
Public health and mosquito experts are warning cases of the mosquito-borne West Nile virus could increase.
"Maybe the rain has stopped, but we end up with a situation like we had in 2023 where extreme flooding filled the long-dry historic Tulare Lake Basin in the Central Valley," said Calmatters reporter Kristen Hwang.
Hwang also noted if floodwaters linger into the spring and summer as temperatures go up, "that is just going to create so much more breeding ground for mosquitoes."
Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties have not reported any West Nile cases this year, but 23 California counties have.
That reporting in collaboration with our news partner CalMatters.
