(CNN) — Evacuation orders remain in place after a fire broke out at a power plant facility in Central California Thursday night, officials said Friday. Monterey County officials said in a briefing they are aware that there was a plume of materials, including toxic hydrogen fluoride, released Thursday night from the Moss Landing Power Plant, which serves as a battery storage site. The county is working with the plant’s owner, Vistra Energy, and other agencies to monitor the air quality and expects to get an update on the matter Friday afternoon, Monterey County spokesperson Nicholas Pasculli said “It appeared last night and early this morning that that plume was reaching elevations where it might not endanger the human population, but that’s something that we’re monitoring constantly,” Pasculli said at the briefing on Friday morning. Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto said a meeting to discuss lifting evacuation orders would take place Friday afternoon. “Looking at the structure this morning … there’s very little, if any, of a plume emitting from that building,” North County Fire Protection District Fire Chief Joel Mendoza said Friday. “Our goal was to have it burn out as quickly as possible and it looks like that is happening at this point.” Mendoza noted that there had been no injuries to civilians, plant personnel or first responders. Monterey County has proclaimed a local emergency, “and will continue to support our evacuees, as well as the first responders, until such time that the evacuation orders can be lifted,” Kelsey Scanlon, director of emergency management for Monterey County, said. The incident is not connected to the wildfires in the Los Angeles area. The fire erupted at the facility around 3 p.m., and evacuation orders were issued around 6:30 p.m. due to concerns over hazardous materials and potential chemical releases, Rosas said without detailing which materials were causing concern. More than 2,000 people were told to evacuate. Santa Cruz County Public Health officials on Friday said they were continuing to monitor the Moss Landing fire and local air quality. “At this time, no imminent significant threat exists and people may resume normal activities,” they said on X. Santa Cruz is north of Monterey. Vistra Energy branded the facility as the “largest of its kind in the world,” boasting a capacity of 750 megawatts and 3,000 megawatt-hours following its 2023 expansion. It plays a critical role in stabilizing California’s energy grid, the company said. The sheriff’s office deployed drones to assess the severity of the situation and monitor air quality, Monterey County spokesperson Nicholas Pasculli told CNN. Emergency services, including sheriff’s deputies and medical teams, were fully mobilized, Pasculli added. Drone footage revealed approximately 40% of the building housing lithium-ion batteries on the property has been consumed by flames, Sheriff’s Commander Andres Rosas said. Vistra Energy personnel called for assistance from the North Monterey County Fire District after a fire was detected in the 300-MW Phase I energy storage facility. All site personnel were safely evacuated, Vistra said in a statement. “The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but an investigation will begin once the fire is extinguished,” the company said. The Moss Landing Power Plant, about 77 miles south of San Francisco, houses tens of thousands of lithium batteries. While the US Department of Energy states these batteries play a crucial role in storing electricity generated from renewable sources like solar power, the US Fire Administration warns firefighters should be cautious of potential chemical exposure during firefighting operations as lithium-ion batteries contain volatile electrolytes, and when exposed to high temperatures or physical damage can release flammable gases. All North Monterey County Unified School District schools and offices will be closed on Friday due to the ongoing fire at the battery plant, according to a statement. The district serves more than 4,500 K-12 students, and covers a 70 square-mile area that includes neighborhoods in Castroville, Prunedale, Moss Landing, Aromas and parts of Salinas, its website says. The incident comes about three years after a previous fire at the same facility, though the sheriff’s office spokesperson said he “doesn’t consider it to be related.” On September 4, 2021, a malfunction at Moss Landing caused some battery damage. An investigation revealed the heat suppression system was accidentally triggered by low smoke from a faulty component, leading to water spraying on the battery storage areas and damaging about 7% of the batteries. There were no injuries, and the situation was managed without outside assistance, Vistra said in a 2022 statement on its investigative findings. In October 2023, following a fire at a different battery plant owned by another company, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill mandating battery storage facilities to implement safety and communication protocols to enhance safety measures. To assist evacuees of the Thursday fire, the Castroville Rec Center has been designated a temporary evacuation point, according to the sheriff’s office. The National Weather Service Bay Area shared satellite images of the fire on X, highlighting visible heat signatures from the blaze. The area is adjacent to major ecosystems, including the Moss Landing Wildlife Area, Elkhorn Slough State Marine Reserve and Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve. A fire broke out at the Moss Landing Power Plant in Monterey County, California, on January 16, officials said.(Photo: KSBW via CNN Newsource)

The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture in Barbados has been working with the Ministry of Agriculture and several other organisations, to address some of the crop shortages on island. The other agencies include the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI). IICA’s Country Representative Allister Glean admits the process to ensure yields is a difficult one. He was speaking during the launch of a partnership between IICA and the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association called Caribbean Chefs for Development Programme. Highlighting challenges in relation to sweet potatoes and being able to get new planting material, Mr. Glean says the Ministry of Agriculture has engaged IICA to see how best to improve planting material going to farmers.

NASSAU, Bahamas, CMC – The Governor of the Central Bank of the Bahamas (CBB), John Role, says that over the past 50 years, the country has materially strengthened its approach to anti-money laundering (AML) and other financial crimes. Addressing the Sixth Annual Bahamas Research Conference on Financial Crime, which ends here on Friday and is being cosponsored by the Washington-based Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Rolle told delegates that the country has been cooperating on an international level in dealing with these issues. He said that level of commitment has also extended to collaboration in matters of international tax transparency. “However, this continues to be a very costly process, in terms of maintaining a balance between the effectiveness of our risk management practices and the unintended effects of regulations, as implemented, on financial inclusion, the ease of doing business, and the effects intended or unintended on the viability of otherwise legitimate business models.” Rolle said he hopes that the research conference continues to be motivated by such concerns. In particular, first, understanding objectively how the global system, given its risk-based approach, can achieve measured levels of effectiveness, in ways that are less costly when scaled to economies and financial centres of varying sizes. “Second, ensuring that measures of bias in the application of international standards are objectively quantifiable. In these regards, it is hoped that our scholarly research will encourage policy discussions that lead to improvements in how we formulate and implement international standards and that these efforts will encourage the release of more data that help expand the range of enquiry into such topics.” He said the conference is also occurring at an important juncture, as the country prepares for the next round of assessment under the Financial Action Task Force‘s (FATF) mutual evaluations process. Rolle said that last year, led by the Attorney General’s Office, the Central Bank and other Bahamian regulators and law enforcement agencies updated the Bahamas’ National Risk Assessment on money laundering and financial crimes. “It underscored a renewed engagement with the financial services industry, that is on the frontline of The Bahamas’ contribution to the global fight against money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing. “This risk assessment document sets the stage for more introspection, additional reforms where necessary, and national awareness building, ahead of our next peer evaluation,” Rolle said, adding “this conference complements our efforts by strengthening our international outreach on anti-money laundering and financial crimes and it helps to build local capacity”. He said the Central Bank is already planning for the 2026 conference, which it expects will build upon the momentum gained this year.