Scientists at San José State University said Monday that after the huge fire this month, they found unusually high levels of nickel, manganese and cobalt in the Elkhorn Slough.

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

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.