Scientists have linked a lithium battery plant fire in California earlier this month to a surge in heavy metals found in nearby soil.

When a massive fire erupted at one of the world's largest lithium-ion battery storage facilities in Monterey County, it didn't just send a toxic plume of smoke over nearby communities — it cast a shadow of doubt over the future of California's clean energy industry.

Elevated concentrations of heavy metals have been detected at the Elkhorn Slough Reserve by scientists following a recent fire at Vistra Moss Landing Power Plant and Energy Storage Facility.

The blaze broke out late Thursday at the Monterey County plant that stores and sells power to Pacific Gas & Electric.

Nickel, cobalt and manganese, found in lithium-ion batteries, increased dramatically at Elkhorn Slough after the fire

A massive blaze erupted at one of the world’s largest lithium battery storage facilities in wildfire-ravaged California, forcing some 1,500 residents to evacuate their homes as toxic smoke filled the air.

Evacuations were lifted Friday night for people near an ongoing fire that erupted Thursday at one of the world’s largest battery storage plants in the northern half of California.

A fire broke out at the Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility in Central California Thursday. The battery power plant is the largest in the world according to the company, Vistra, that owns it.

A group of researchers says they have found high concentrations of heavy metals in a California estuary near the site of a major fire that destroyed a battery storage facility south of San Francisco earlier in January.