6 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JANUARY 30-FEBRUARY 5, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com NEWS After 97 years, Carmel’s historic Harrison Memorial Library, designed by famed architect Bernard Maybeck and constructed by master builder Michael J. Murphy, is on track for a major interior renovation to bring it into the 21st century. It will be done with private money—already $2 million has been raised, with $3 million needed to catch up with a $5 million matching gift. The building belongs to the City of Carmel, its operation is overseen by the Harrison Memorial Board of Trustees and supported by the Carmel Public Library Foundation and Friends of the Carmel Public Library. A study commissioned by the Carmel City Council last year concluded that the historic building was in need of a major overhaul, including electrical, plumbing, technology and Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. “We realized it would cost a lot to do all this and we knew the city does not have the funding for it, or the bandwidth. So we stepped up and said we’ll provide the funds,” says Alexandra Fallon, the foundation’s executive director. One estimate is that it could cost as much as $15 million. They formed a 19-person architect selection committee and selected the firm of Moore Ruble Yudell for its experience in sensitive restorations of historic buildings. All that’s left is approval from the council. The multi-year project will hopefully be complete in time for the library’s anniversary on March 31, 2028. “It’s a cherished institution and we want it to be here for the next 100 years for generations to come,” Fallon says. Novel Idea Carmel’s historic library is due for its first major interior renovation since 1928. By Pam Marino While the lithium ion battery-induced fire at the Vistra power plant in Moss Landing is no longer burning, nearby residents still have burning questions about what kind of pollution they may have been exposed to, particularly those who experienced symptoms such as headaches, nosebleeds and a metallic taste in their mouths. Questions remain, but an announcement made Jan. 27 by San Jose State University marine geologist Ivano Aiello, chair of the Department of Geological Oceanography at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, may provide some insight. Aiello has been testing sediments around Elkhorn Slough for over a decade, and in the days immediately following the fire, he and others got to work taking marsh soil samples within a two-mile radius of the Vistra plant. What they found is that concentrations of nickel, manganese and cobalt—heavy metals, known together as “NMC,” are often used as cathode material for lithium ion batteries—were about 1,000 times their normal concentrations. “All these three metals are toxic to terrestrial and aquatic life,” he says. “Those things are very tiny, they can lodge into your lungs.” As for whether the amount of exposure would have health impacts on humans and other animals, Aiello can’t say. He and other scientists will be tracking how the metals move through the food chain and groundwater. “We haven’t done this study before, but in two months, we’re going to know exactly if the metals move from soil to oysters or red legged frogs,” he says. A silver lining, perhaps, is that instead of conducting such a study in a lab, “Now we can do it in a natural environment.” Michael Polkabla, an industrial hygienist based in Pacific Grove, is volunteering alongside other scientists to gather 125 soil samples since the fire. Their results could be processed within about a week. As for potential impacts to crops in the area, “every plant metabolizes [the metals] to some degree,” Polkabla says, “spinach in particular.” Asked whether growers should be concerned, he adds: “Absolutely.” The Monterey Bay Air Resources District reported the particulate matter around Moss Landing during the fire and aftermath never exceeded a “moderate” air quality index reading. But MBARD doesn’t have the equipment to measure for the most dangerous chemical released by the fire, hydrogen fluoride, an acidic gas commonly referred to as “HF,” which can cause deleterious health impacts from skin and respiratory irritation to tissue damage, among other things. Officials from the federal Environmental Protection Agency deployed to Moss Landing immediately in the wake of the fire, and set up nine stations to monitor for HF, two inside the Vistra facility and seven in the area around it. In only one of those stations was HF detected in air—a few hours on Jan. 18, Jan. 19 and Jan. 20—but the amounts did not exceed the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment’s level that would be considered harmful for even the most vulnerable individuals. Prunedale resident Ed Mitchell, who’s been active in organizing a community response team to the fire, could see the smoke column from his house, rising straight up, and says it’s lucky there was little wind in the days after the fire, as it could have easily blown to the Monterey Peninsula. “It isn’t a small issue that affects a small town,” he says. Luis Solano and Tonya Rivera are Moss Landing residents who are concerned about the possible health risks associated with the battery fire that started on Jan. 16. Up in the Air Two weeks after Vistra battery plant fire in Moss Landing, residents are still seeking answers. By David Schmalz Carmel Mayor Dale Byrne (left) and Carmel Library Foundation board president Marci Meaux, shown at the Harrison Memorial Library, hope to have renovations completed by 2028. “Those things are tiny, they can lodge into your lungs.” DANIEL DREIFUSS DANIEL DREIFUSS
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