EMBER Research Group
Estuary Monitoring of Battery Emissions and Residues
We are a team of scientists studying the effects, movement, and transformations of heavy metals deposited as result of lithium battery fires in Elkhorn Slough, California.
On 16 January 2025, one of the largest battery storage facilities in the world caught fire and burned for several days in Moss Landing, central California. Models of the smoke plume from the Vistra fire project that particulates from the fire drifted and may have settled over nearby communities, farm fields, and the environmentally sensitive Elkhorn Slough estuary. Early surveys of surface sediments show nickel, manganese, and cobalt at concentrations up to 10 to 1000 times greater than pre-fire (Aiello 2025). Because of the ever changing environmental conditions of dynamic estuarine habitats, we hypothesize that over time these metals will move from sediments into the water of the slough and possibly affect life there. There is potential for metals to bioaccumulate in top predators, which in Elkhorn Slough include sea otters and humans. As the need for battery facilities expands along with society’s growing demand for electricity, so too does the need to understand potential effects of fires, and the uptake and pathways of contaminants of emerging concern at the terrestrial-aquatic interface.
Objectives:
Research Objectives:
- Measure and map distribution of metals before and after the battery fire in Elkhorn Slough sediments.
- Track movement from the surrounding watershed into the Slough via stormwater runoff.
- Characterize movement and chemical transformations of battery fire metals between sediments, porewater, and the water column in Elkhorn Slough.
- Create a box model of metals in various reservoirs of Elkhorn Slough.
- Evaluate the potential for uptake and accumulation of metals into common plants, invertebrates, and fish in Elkhorn Slough, including edible species.
Team Objectives:
- Collect samples and evaluate data with scientific rigor.
- Conduct a publicly transparent research plan.
- Communicate results with relevant state agencies and publish in peer-reviewed scientific literature.
Teams:
Team members are from several institutions: Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (MLML) and San Jose State University (SJSU), Marine Pollution Studies (MPSL), Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve (ESNERR), Amah Mutsun Land Trust (AMLT), California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB) and the Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBA).
Sediment and Geospatial Team
Dr. Ivano Aiello is a marine geologist and professor at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. With over two decades of experience in geological oceanography, he specializes in sedimentology, paleoceanography, and marine geology. His research spans a range of topics from heavy metal contamination in coastal environments to the dynamics of submarine canyons and wetland restoration.
Research Associate, Moss Landing Marine Labs. Uses GIS software to map sample locations and perform geospatial analyses of sample data with regards to watershed boundaries, drainage networks, and land-cover types.
Research lab technician, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. Steve operates several of the analytical instruments and runs samples for several of the research teams, and manages data.
Water Chemistry Team - Water, porewater, stormwater.
Associate Professor of Chemical Oceanography, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. Max is a chemical oceanographer and analytical chemist studying trace metal and nutrient cycling in coastal and open-ocean environments. He coordinates the field sampling, processing and analysis of dissolved and particulate metals in Elkhorn Slough. He also works with Wes Heim for analysis of dissolved and extractable metals in sediment pore waters.
Project Director of Marine Pollution Studies Lab at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. Wes brings over 25 years of experience studying the transport and fate of contaminants in coastal, estuarine, and freshwater environments. He is leading storm water collections, transplanted bivalves as bioindicators of trace metal accumulation, sediment coring, and trace metal sediment water exchange via flux chamber deployments. He also works with Max Grand on characterization of the Elkhorn Slough sediment redox environment using micro profiling equipment for oxygen, hydrogen sulfide, and pH.
Biota Team - Plants, invertebrates, fish.
Research Coordinator, Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve. Coordinates fish/invert/plant collections by Biota team, AMLT, ESNERR staff and volunteers; supports funding acquisition, writing and analyses for this project.
Associate Professor of Invertebrate Zoology, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. Amanda is an invertebrate zoologist who studies how animals affect the movement of nutrients through their ecosystems. She coordinates the lab processing and data for the biota research.
Ocean and Coastal Stewardship Program manager, Amah Mutsun Land Trust. Coordinates with Amah Mutsun Land Trust to sample fish, invertebrates, and plant species. Amah Mutsun stewards identify culturally important organisms and process samples in the lab.
Project Director of Marine Pollution Studies Lab at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. Wes brings over 25 years of experience studying the transport and fate of contaminants in coastal, estuarine, and freshwater environments. He is leading storm water collections, transplanted bivalves as bioindicators of trace metal accumulation, sediment coring, and trace metal sediment water exchange via flux chamber deployments. He also works with Max Grand on characterization of the Elkhorn Slough sediment redox environment using micro profiling equipment for oxygen, hydrogen sulfide, and pH.
Associate Project Director, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, Marine Pollution Studies Laboratory. Autumn has over 25 years lab experience with trace metals in tissues for wildlife and human health. She provides advice and oversight on tissue dissection and analysis.
Graduate Student Research Assistant with Moss Landing Marine Laboratories and California State University, Monterey Bay. Assist biota team with field collections, trace metal analysis, and data management.
Advisory
Director Tidal Wetland Program, Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve. Provide oversight of the Hester Marsh Restoration and serve as reviewer and advisory on this team.
Director of Science, U.S. Ocean Conservation, Monterey Bay Aquarium. April advises on aspects of the sampling and experimental design and discusses decisions related to sample selection and processing for biota.
Funding:
The institutions of all team members (Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, Amah Mutsun Land Trust, Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, Monterey Bay Aquarium) have supported this work through staff time and facilities.
Initial funding of baseline data was collected as part of the Hester Marsh Restoration project and funded through grants from California Department of Fish and Wildlife Greenhouse Gas Reduction Program and Ocean Protection Council. Funding to support this work has been provided by all partner institutions and the Monterey Bay Aquarium, CDFW, and generous anonymous donors. Further funding is needed to support laboratory analyses and staff time for coordination, syntheses, and data dissemination.