On July 7, 2025, the EPA announced it entered into a settlement agreement with Gateway Energy Storage, LLC, to direct cleanup in the wake of a lithium-ion battery fire that occurred at the company’s energy storage facility in San Diego.
“Calling a technology ‘green energy’ does not mean there are no environmental impacts. This is an issue of growing concern,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Region Administrator Josh F.W. Cook in an Agency news release. “I am alarmed by the incidents and impacts of utility grade battery fires on first responders, specifically the professional firefighters who are exposed to horrible toxic conditions when batteries catch fire. This settlement action is a step in the right direction, but the broader battery storage fire issue requires additional attention and EPA enforcement.”
A fire began at Gateway’s facility on May 15, 2024, and flare-ups from the fire continued until May 28. According to the EPA, the facility contained approximately 14,796 nickel-manganese-cobalt lithium-ion batteries.
Fire-damaged batteries pose ongoing risks of fire, explosion, and chemical releases. In the agreement, the EPA is requiring comprehensive safety measures and monitoring to protect nearby residents and workers during the cleanup process.
“EPA is working in coordination with local fire authorities and the County of San Diego to oversee the cleanup effort undertaken by the responsible party,” the Agency’s release says. “Gateway Energy Storage, LLC operates the facility as a Delaware-incorporated limited liability company. The company is considered a responsible party under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and must bear the costs of the cleanup.
“Under the settlement agreement, Gateway Energy Storage must conduct environmental monitoring during all battery handling operations; safely remove, package, and dispose of all impacted battery packs; and submit detailed work plans and progress reports to EPA.
“The root cause of the fire remains under investigation. EPA and local agencies will continue to oversee cleanup activities until all work is completed, and the site no longer poses a threat to public health or the environment.”
CERCLA
CERCLA, or the Superfund Law, imposes liability on parties responsible for the presence of hazardous substances at a site.
Superfund liability is:
- Retroactive: Parties may be held liable for acts that happened before Superfund’s enactment in 1980.
- Joint and several: Any one potentially responsible party (PRP) may be held liable for the entire cleanup of the site (when the harm caused by multiple parties can’t be separated).
- Strict: A PRP can’t simply say it wasn’t negligent or it was operating according to industry standards. If a PRP sent some amount of hazardous waste found at the site, that party is liable.
Superfund liability is triggered if:
- Hazardous wastes are present at a facility.
- There’s a release (or the possibility of a release) of these hazardous substances.
- Response costs have been or will be incurred.
- The defendant is a liable party.
A PRP is potentially liable for:
- Government cleanup costs,
- Damages to natural resources (e.g., to a fishery),
- The costs of certain health assessments, and
- Injunctive relief (i.e., performing a cleanup) where a site may present an imminent and substantial endangerment.
Types of Superfund liable parties
There are four classes of Superfund liable parties:
- Current owners and operators of a facility,
- Past owners and operators of a facility at the time hazardous wastes were disposed,
- Generators and parties that arranged for the disposal or transport of the hazardous substances, and
- Transporters of hazardous waste that selected the site where the hazardous substances were brought.
Some PRPs have unique circumstances that impact their liability due to either one or all of the following:
- The small amount of waste they contributed;
- The limited hazard posed by the waste they contributed;
- Their status as municipalities, private homeowners, handlers of municipal solid waste, or owners of property above contaminated aquifers; and/or
- Their inability to pay for the cleanup.
Defenses to Superfund liability are limited to cases in which the release was caused by:
- An act of God,
- Acts of war, or
- Acts/omissions of a third party with which a PRP has no contractual relationship.
See the EPA webpage for information about negotiating Superfund settlements.