Tesla Megapack battery ignites at substation after less than 6 months

Brandon Vigliarolo - Yesterday The Register

Tesla Megapack battery ignites at substation  © Provided by The Register

It's better to burn out than to fade away

A Tesla Megapack battery at a California substation caught fire early yesterday morning, prompting a shelter-in-place order and multiple road closures around the Moss Landing area of Monterey Bay. …

According to the Monterey County Weekly, the North Monterey County Fire Department received a call about a burning Tesla Megapack at the Elkhorn Battery Storage facility, a 182.5 MW Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) facility co-managed by Tesla and in operation since April of this year.

According to fire chief Joel Mendoza, the battery burned quickly and cleanly, a rarity for such fires. "The thing about these batteries is they burn for days, sometimes. In this particular case it burned rather quickly, in six hours or so," Mendoza said. "We don't have any flame coming out of it. We're going to continue to see smoke; it's white smoke, not black dirty smoke."

As of 10 p.m. local time yesterday, roughly 20 hours after the fire was reported, Monterey County said the fire was fully controlled, but said it may continue to emit smoke for several days.

Per CNBC, firefighters on the scene allowed the battery to burn out, as is standard practice for lithium-ion fires. Firefighters planned to remain on scene overnight to ensure the system didn't re-ignite.

Tesla hasn't responded to emails requesting additional details. PG&E said it had no comment.

As the US shifts to distributed, renewable energy generation, facilities like the Elkhorn Battery storage facility will become increasingly important parts of the grid, as they're able to retain energy during surplus production periods so they can release it later, when renewables are underproducing.

Unfortunately, large lithium-ion battery facilities like Elkhorn, which consists of 256 shipping container-sized Tesla Megapack batteries, have proven to be fire hazards – even at the same Moss Landing substation.

Texas-based Vistra also installed a battery storage facility at Moss Landing that Monterey County Weekly describes as the largest in the world. Unfortunately, it too has been plagued by fires – two of them – and was shut down for months, only re-entering service in July.

Tesla has been involved in other li-ion fires, with its Australian "Big Battery" bursting into flame last year and burning for four days. Li-ion batteries can also ignite weeks after damage, as was the case with a Tesla vehicle totaled in an accident.

In South Korea, where battery energy storage systems (BESS) have been deployed widely, there were 23 BESS fires between 2017 and 2019 resulting in $32 million in losses. Investigators in Korea said lack of electric shock protection, inadequate operating environment management and faulty installations were to blame, along with BESS integrations with other energy management software, which they said "can result in conditions that lead to fire."

Despite known problems, lithium-ion continues to be the standard for rechargeable batteries. Researchers have discovered new cathode and anode materials that are safer than li-ion, but no big breakthroughs have been made recently that could challenge its dominance – a potentially serious problem as giant BESSes get built in more locations. ®

32 pilot whales rescued out of 230 stranded in Australia

HOBART, Australia (AP) — Wildlife experts on Thursday rescued 32 of the 230 whales that were found stranded on the wild and remote west coast of Australia’s island state of Tasmania a day earlier.


32 pilot whales rescued out of 230 stranded in Australia

Half the pod of pilot whales found stranded in Macquarie Harbour were presumed to still be alive on Wednesday, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania said.

But only 35 had survived the pounding surf overnight, Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service manager Brendon Clark said.

“Of the 35 that were remaining alive this morning, we’ve managed to refloat, rescue and release … 32 of those animals, and so that’s a terrific result,” Clark told reporters late Thursday at nearby Strahan.

“We still have three alive on the far northern end of Ocean Beach, but because of access restrictions, predominantly tidal influences, we just haven’t been able to access those three animals safely today. But they’ll be our priority in the morning,” Clark added.

The whales beached two years to the day after the largest mass-stranding in Australia’s history was discovered in the same harbor.

About 470 long-finned pilot whales were found on Sept. 21, 2020, stuck on sandbars. After a weeklong effort, 111 of those whales were rescued but the rest died.

The entrance to the harbor is a notoriously shallow and dangerous channel known as Hell’s Gate.

Marine Conservation Program biologist Kris Carlyon said the dead whales would be tested to see if there were toxins in their systems that might explain the disaster.

“These mass stranding events are typically the result of accidental sort of coming to shore, and that’s through a whole host of reasons,” Carlyon said.

Local salmon farmer Linton Kringle helped in the 2020 rescue effort and said Thursday’s challenge was more difficult because the whales were in shallower and more exposed waters.

Fourteen sperm whales were discovered Monday afternoon beached on King Island in Bass Strait between the Australian mainland and Tasmania.

Griffith University marine scientist Olaf Meynecke said it’s unusual for sperm whales to wash ashore. He said that warmer temperatures could also be changing the ocean currents and moving the whales’ traditional food.

UN urges countries to transfer millions in pledges to avert catastrophic oil spill from Red Sea tanker

Laura McQuillan, Waqas Chughtai - Yesterday -CBC

Months after several countries pledged millions of dollars to the UN to salvage a decaying oil tanker in the Red Sea, the international agency is still waiting for most of the money to arrive, as time runs out to avert an environmental and humanitarian catastrophe.

The United Nations in May launched an effort to raise $75 million US to pay for the removal of more than a million barrels of crude oil from the FSO Safer off Yemen's western coast, warning the ship was at risk of disintegrating or exploding.

Such a disaster would have far-reaching effects for the countries and marine life along the Red Sea, and to global supply chains that rely on the ability to cross those waters, as well as the distribution of humanitarian aid to war-torn Yemen. The UN estimates a clean-up effort would cost at least $20 billion US.

On Wednesday, the UN said 17 countries, as well as companies and individuals, had pledged $78 million — more than enough to complete the first phase of the salvage plan. But most of the pledges had yet to be transferred to the UN, and the work could not begin until the money was received.

Canada announced a $2.5 million commitment to the operation on Sept. 6. It issued the payment to the United Nations Development Programme the following day, Global Affairs Canada told CBC News on Wednesday.


This graphic shows the position of the FSO Safer on Yemen's west coast. Experts warn an oil spill could cause major disruption to international shipping through the Red Sea.© CBC News
Tight timeline to complete salvage operation

Speaking at the United Nations headquarters in New York, David Gressly, the UN's humanitarian co-ordinator for Yemen, said he was confident countries would send the money by the end of September, in order for the delayed salvage operation to begin.

"While most of the money has not yet come in, most of the agreements [with donors] have now been signed, which are the prerequisite for the actual funds to be transferred," he told reporters. "We have very hard commitments from those who've yet to sign contracts [that they will] do so."

The UN did not name the countries that had yet to transfer funds or say how much money was outstanding, and ended its press conference after only a few questions from reporters.

The UN now has a very tight window to complete the four-month operation, which it had hoped to begin in the first half of 2022, warning in May that strong winds and currents in the Red Sea from September onward would increase the risk of the decrepit tanker disintegrating.

Gressly on Wednesday said he expected teams to be on the ground within a few weeks to begin preparations for the salvage work, which will take place amid a truce between warring parties in Yemen.

The salvage plan follows more than three years of urging from local environmentalists in Yemen, who warned of the risk of an ecological catastrophe from the rusting ship.
'Ticking time bomb'

Since 1988, the vessel, owned by Yemen's state oil company, has been used to store, transfer and export crude from the country's oil fields.

But after war broke out in 2015 between Yemen's internationally recognized government and Houthi rebels, the waters where the Safer is moored became contested, and the ship fell into disrepair. Greenpeace has described it as a "ticking time bomb."

The first three months of the salvage mission would be spent preparing the ship for offloading the oil safely, including ensuring its oil tanks could be opened without risking an explosion, as its systems for pumping inert gases into the oil chambers no longer functioned.

Hydraulic pumps would be used to transfer the oil to a temporary vessel moored alongside the Safer. The empty tanks would then be cleaned to remove any remaining oil residue and debris before the Safer is towed away and sold for scrap.

"We want to take a very careful approach to making sure that not only is oil not contaminating the bay during the transfer, but that the ship itself is fully clean before we consider it a successful operation," Gressly said Wednesday.

He was confident the UN would be able to raise a further $38 million US it needed for a second phase of the operation, which involves finding a permanent storage solution for the oil.

Canada slow to contribute

In May, Global Affairs Canada told CBC News the government did not plan to give money. It did not respond to multiple requests for further information.

On Wednesday, the department said the due diligence process for international aid initiatives took longer when it involved a conflict zone.

The UN launched a public crowd-funding campaign in June in an attempt to make up the shortfall from countries' contributions.


This graphic illustrates the potential risk of oil contamination if a spill occurs from the FSO Safer, based on an analysis carried out for the U.K. government by Riskaware.© CBC News

The Dutch government on Tuesday announced an extra €7.5 million ($10 million Cdn) for the operation, taking its total contribution to €15 million. The United States pledged $10 million US in June, following pledges from Qatar and a number of European countries. Members of the public had contributed $200,000 US, the UN said in a statement Wednesday.

The operation was set to cost less than the UN originally expected. In May, it projected it would need to raise $144 million US, but on Wednesday, it said it had found a cheaper long-term storage option, and now expected the total cost to be $113 million US.

Mount Pearl's unionized workers vote in favor of contract, soon return to work, says mayor

The City of Mount Pearl says its unionized workforce has voted to accept its contract offer, ending a nearly 12-week long strike.

Union workers are heading back to work in Mount Pearl.© Paul Daly/CBC

Mike Moore - CBC - Yesterday 

Mayor Dave Aker told CBC News just before 9 p.m. city services will slowly resume over the next few days, with regular garbage collection resuming on Thursday.

"We just heard the union has ratified the tentative agreement that was reached this past weekend and Mount Pearl city council has endorsed and will ratify it tomorrow night," said Aker.

"We look forward to getting our workers back to work and resuming our city services."

In a media release sent at 8:42 p.m. the city said the return-to-work plan is a phased approach with details on programs and services being announced on the city's website, public advisories and social media in the coming days.

Aker said some facilities will need a few days to get back up to speed including the Glacier Arena and the Summit Centre.

"We had a planning session today with our managers and of course we'll look forward to, in the next day or two, working with our employees, getting them up to speed and getting our services returned to normal," he said.

The new collective agreement covers the period of July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2026.

Details of the contract include a nine per cent wage increase, a reduction in sick-leave days from 21 to 18, an addition of two personal leave days, an increased meal allowance from $15 to $17 and an increase from four to six employees scheduled for weekend maintenance and snow clearing during the winter season.

"We're looking forward to returning to normal and we're glad that we can put this behind us," Aker said.

"We're looking forward to our workers coming back and looking forward to having a harmonious workplace as we move forward."

In its own media release at 9:45 p.m., CUPE 2099 president Ken Turner said his members are also looking forward to getting back to work. The union represents more than 200 municipal workers.

"We'll be working with the employer to see that the agreed upon 'return to work' is implemented, ensuring a smooth transition back into the workplace," he said.

"We believe this is a fair deal for our members, the city, and residents."

EV sector could mean a quarter of a million jobs and $50 billion a year to Canada

Gabriel Friedman 

Canadian governments are going to need to plunk down many more billions of dollars to entice more automakers and battery manufacturers to build plants here, experts say.

© Provided by Financial Post


In the fall of 2020, the Ontario and federal governments announced they would spend a combined $590 million to help Ford Motor Company retool an assembly plant in Oakville to produce electric vehicles.

Since that time, electric vehicle adoption has grown, and governments in Canada have plunked down billions of dollars to entice new plants and projects connected to an electric vehicle battery supply chain.

This week on Down to Business, Brendan Sweeney managing director of the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing, a think-tank at Western University in London Ontario and Joanna Kyriazis, transportation program manager for Clean Energy Canada, a think-tank based at Simon Fraser University, discussed what their modelling showed about the economic impacts of an EV supply chain could be.

In short, governments are going to need to plunk down many more billions of dollars to entice more automakers and battery manufacturers to build plants in Canada, but all levels of government will need to craft policies to rezone land and build electrical transmission and distribution capacity in order to support this burgeoning industry.

Brendan Kelly: P.K. Subban has forged a lasting bond with Montrealers

Brendan Kelly, Montreal Gazette - Yesterday 

P.K. Subban takes part in a ceremony before the Canadiens' home opener at the Bell Centre in 2015.

© Provided by The Gazette

I’m still not over it.

P.K. Subban, who announced his retirement from the National Hockey League on Tuesday, was traded by the Montreal Canadiens to the Nashville Predators on June 29, 2016, in exchange for Shea Weber. I never had anything against the Man Mountain, as Weber is known, but I’m still not ready to forgive Habs management for shipping the Norris Trophy-winning defenceman out of town.

You’ll never convince me this was a pure hockey trade. Then-general manager Marc Bergevin and head coach Michel Therrien always seemed to have a problem with Subban and his larger-than-life personality. The Habs much preferred a taciturn, buttoned-down dude like Weber.

But Subban connected with Montrealers and most Habs fans in a way no player had this century. He was so exciting on the ice. Sure he made mistakes, but he also provided so much razzle-dazzle, like the time he jumped out of the penalty box in that 2014 series against the Boston Bruins and ignited the Bell Centre by scoring on a breakaway.

He played ball hockey on the street in Westmount with a bunch of kids. He pledged to help raise $10 million for the Montreal Children’s Hospital and he called the hospital’s foundation on Monday to tell them that now that he’s retiring he’ll have even more time to help raise money for the hospital.

It was a beautiful story, a Jamaican-Canadian from Toronto who grew up a Habs fan and idolized Jean Béliveau. Subban and Béliveau’s widow, Élise, would blow kisses at each other at the arena. The Canadiens and Subban were a match made in hockey heaven and it speaks volumes about that era’s management that they felt fine with booting him out of town.

“He’s a great guy; he’s done a lot for the city, especially with the hospital,” said Louis Paillier, who was walking down Sherbrooke St. in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on Tuesday. “I’m a Leafs fan, so a couple of years ago I would’ve loved to have him on the team. Recently not so much. He’s a nice guy, a really big personality and I think he’s going to go into broadcasting, so that’s going to be great for him.”

Julian Sargisson is also a Subban fan.

“I always admired him as a player when he was with the Canadiens, and as a member of the community he helped a great deal raising funds for hospitals and sick children,” Sargisson said. “I thought he was an all-around good guy.

“I understand that there was negative discourse. I don’t think his relationship with the coach at the time (Therrien) was very good. I’m not sure his teammates felt the same way. And he was an extraordinary athlete. It must be increasingly difficult … for a player of colour, any minority player in the NHL, which is still predominantly white.”

Added Louise Fournier: “We love P.K. He was a great athlete. He was a great Montrealer. He contributed a lot to our city. We are next door to the McGill University (Health Centre) and he did so much to (raise) public awareness (about) sick children. So thank you P.K. and have a nice retirement.”


“I don’t think he was a superstar. I think he was good, had a lot of energy, had a lot of panache and that was excellent,” Steven Appelbaum, a professor in the John Molson School of Business, said about P.K. Subban on Tuesday upon hearing about his retirement.© Dave Sidaway

Steven Appelbaum, a professor in the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University who teaches human-resources management, said Subban is leaving at the right time.

“The question is: What’s the time to say, ‘I’ve finally had it’ — when you don’t go over the line and then people remember ‘he was really bad’ rather than the good memories of when he was really good,” Appelbaum said.

“He left (the Habs) and his career sort of plateaued, went down, went flat, and now his agent had been trying to get him connected to these other teams. I believe when you’re at that point, you’re really at the end of your career but you don’t want to give it up. And that’s the problem. That’s when athletes wind up with a negative memory of how good they really were.

“He was (very good) when he was here, but I don’t think he was a superstar. I think he was good, had a lot of energy, had a lot of panache and that was excellent.”

Even Montrealers who don’t follow hockey knew and loved Subban.

“I don’t really know much about hockey … but I know he’s very involved with children and hospitals and I think that’s really great,” Juliette Garcia said. “I think he was really loved by a lot of people in Montreal. It’s kind of like the only name I know in hockey. I think he really did a lot of good stuff in the city.”

Dental-care legislation among the first bills on the docket as Parliament resumes

Yesterday 


OTTAWA — The federal government says it won't come calling if parents don't spend every cent of their dental-care dollars on their kids' teeth, but the Canada Revenue Agency will check in to make sure the program isn't abused.



Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos tabled new dental-care legislation in the House of Commons Tuesday to allow the government to send cheques to low- and middle-income families to help them pay for their kids' oral health services.

If granted royal assent, Bill C-31 would provide qualifying families with children under the age of 12 with up to $650 per child each year to pay for dental care services, depending on their household income.

The benefit is part of a package of new legislation aimed at easing the burden of inflation and the rising cost of living.

Bill C-31 also includes a one-time $500 top-up to the Canada Housing Benefit for families with an adjusted net income of $35,000 and singles who earn less than $20,000. Applicants must pay at least 30 per cent of their adjusted net income on rent to qualify.

Those initiatives were included in the Liberals' supply and confidence deal with the NDP, in exchange for the opposition party's promise not to trigger an election before 2025.

Associate finance minister Randy Boissonnault tabled the government's other initiative in Bill C-30, which would double the GST credit for those who are already eligible. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has been calling for that change for some time.

For the dental benefit, families with a household income under $90,000 need to provide the Canada Revenue Agency with the nameand address of their licensed dental-care practitioner and the month of the planned appointment.

They must also attest that the child does not have private dental insurance and that they will keep their receipts.

"We hope that the proposed legislation will pass quickly through the House and that all parties will support it so that eligible families and children can start receiving their benefit in 2022," Duclos said at a press conference in the foyer of West Block.

The government expects roughly 500,000 children will qualify for the benefit.

In a followup interview, Duclos said the benefit amount of $650 was chosen carefully based on advice from experts in the field.

"The figure is there to reassure families that they will have enough resources if they go in and bring their children to the dentist," he said.

Qualifying families will be able to apply for more money if the benefit doesn't cover all of their child's dental expenses.

Officials with Health Canada, who provided a briefing on the condition they not be named, say families will not be penalized if they don't use the full amount.

However, families who provide false information, can't provide receipts or don't use any of the money for dental care could face a maximum fine of $5,000.

The Canada Revenue Agency can, based on a balance of probabilities, give families a pass if they unknowingly break the rules, a representative of the agency said at the briefing.

Duclos said the CRA is accustomed to using "not only the rigour, but also the judgment and the humanity that is sometimes needed to work with populations that may feel vulnerable and marginalized."

Dental care is a major element of the Liberals' supply and confidence deal with the NDP to hold off an election until 2025. Singh, who criticized the government for clawing back CERB payments, says he'll be watching closely to make sure the same doesn't happen with the dental benefit.

"We want to make sure that $650 is free from being clawed back, that it goes to families, it goes to people that need it," he said at a press conference."

Singh said the NDP fought for the benefit, though it wasn't everything they hoped for from this first phase of the program.

"It took a lot of us fighting and forcing the government to act," he said.

Though the program is intended for people who don't have private insurance, those who have coverage from the provincial, territorial and even federal governments can still apply as long as they can prove they had out-of-pocket dental expenses.

Duclos said the government is mindful about disturbing the dental-care landscape in Canada, which is made up of a patchwork of provincial and private plans, but said he believes the risk is minimal.

"There is a very minor presence of public, provincial and territorial dental care currently in Canada," he said, explaining that only about four per cent of dental-care spending comes from provinces and territories.

Duclos said the department aims to roll out a full-fledged dental-care program by 2023.

"This interim Canada dental benefit is just a start."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 20, 2022.

Laura Osman, The Canadian Press

Economic stimulus should have stopped earlier to tame inflation, Bank of Canada says

At the same time, Beaudry said the stimulus measures contributed to a faster-than-expected bounceback for the economy, with labour markets recovering six months sooner than after the global financial crisis.

OTTAWA — Bank of Canada deputy governor Paul Beaudry said in hindsight, governments and central banks should have withdrawn stimulus measures earlier as economies recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, which likely would have kept a lid on inflation.



In a speech at the University of Waterloo on Tuesday, Beaudry said a faster global withdrawal of fiscal and monetary stimulus during the recovery from the pandemic would have likely resulted in lower inflation.

Beaudry said fiscal and monetary policy in one country has spillover effects in other nations that are not always accounted for.

One of the lessons from the global financial crisis in 2008-2009, he said, was that countries would have benefited from a more gradual withdrawal of stimulus because of spillover effects.

This lesson, he said, influenced policy decisions during the pandemic. However, Beaudry noted that the COVID-19 economic crisis was different and public health measures meant supply in many sectors couldn’t keep up as demand began rebounding.

“Bottlenecks occurred in these sectors because of demand surges driven by a combination of stimulus policies, shutdowns and re-opening, as well as by consumers shifting away from services."

The deputy governor said the stimulus delivered simultaneously by countries through government support programs and lower interest rates had spillover effects globally and contributed to supply chain bottlenecks.

“It’s likely a somewhat faster global (stimulus) withdrawal process could have made all countries better off,” he said.

At the same time, Beaudry said the stimulus measures contributed to a faster-than-expected bounceback for the economy, with labour markets recovering six months sooner than after the global financial crisis.


Canada's inflation rate slows to 7%

“Fiscal policy measures clearly prevented a worse outcome."

Moving forward, Beaudry said the Bank of Canada is focused on clear communications with the public on its policy decisions to ensure Canadians don’t expect high inflation to persist for long.

Central banks generally worry when people and businesses expect inflation to remain high because those expectations can feed into even higher prices.

Beaudry also addressed concerns raised by some that the central bank would need to engineer a substantial economic slowdown, or even a recession, to bring inflation down.

Beaudry said the Bank of Canada believes people set their inflation expectations partly based on past inflation and partly on communication of central banks about where monetary policy is headed.

Statistics Canada released its consumer price index report for August earlier on Tuesday, which showed inflation slowed to 7.0 per cent. Beaudry said while inflation is headed in the right direction, it's still "too high."

The deputy governor said the bank is leaning into effective communication with the public on monetary policy to help alleviate some of the heightened concern about inflation persisting.

“The bank is committed to keeping its communications during this difficult period clear, simple and focused on our inflation mandate,” he said, adding that the more effective the bank is with its communications, the more likely a recession can be avoided.

The deputy governor concluded by reiterating the bank’s commitment to bring inflation back to its two per cent target and thereby fulfilling its mandate.

“We will continue to take whatever actions are necessary to restore price stability for households and businesses.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 20, 2022.

The Canadian Press

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version gave the wrong day of the week for Beaudry's speech.

Mass stranding kills 14 whales in Australia

AFP - Yesterday 


Australian wildlife investigators were on Wednesday trying to piece together why more than a dozen young male sperm whales died in a mass stranding on a remote beach in the state of Tasmania.



The 14 whales were discovered beached on King Island earlier this week, off Tasmania's north coast.

Biologists and a veterinarian from the state's conservation agency have travelled to the small island to investigate, with an aerial survey finding no other stranded whales.

The young whales' deaths may be a case of "misadventure", wildlife biologist Kris Carlyon from the state government conservation agency told the local Mercury newspaper.

"The most common reason for stranding events is misadventure, they might have been foraging close to shore, there might have been food and possibly they were caught on a low tide," Carlyon said.

"That's the theory at the moment."

He said the whales likely beached themselves on Sunday, before being found dead on Monday.

Mass strandings of whales were "infrequent but certainly not unexpected" in the region, Carlyon told The Mercury.

In 2020, Tasmania experienced Australia's largest-ever mass stranding when 470 whales became stuck in the state's west.

More than 300 pilot whales died during that stranding, despite the efforts of dozens of volunteers who toiled for days in Tasmania's freezing waters to free them.

The reason for mass whale strandings remains mysterious, but some experts theorised the 2020 pod may have gotten lost after feeding close to the shoreline or by following one or two whales that strayed.

mmc/arb/qan

Montana to allow transgender people to change birth record

“Appeal is what you contemplate — not that you can nullify a judge’s orders. Otherwise, people just wouldn’t obey the law,”  “The system can’t work that way.”′

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — After months of defiance, Montana’s health department said Monday it will follow a judge’s ruling and temporarily allow transgender people to change the gender on their birth certificates.


Montana to allow transgender people to change birth record© Provided by The Canadian Press

The judge issued a scathing order Monday morning saying health officials made “calculated violations” of his order, which had told them to temporarily stop enforcing a law blocking transgender people from changing their gender on their birth certificates unless they had undergone surgery.

District Court Judge Michael Moses said Monday he would promptly consider motions for contempt based on continued violations of his April order, which he clarified in a verbal order at a hearing on Thursday. Just hours after that hearing, the Republican-run state said it would defy the order and keep in place a rule that disallowed any changes to birth certificates unless they were due to a clerical error.

On Monday afternoon, the Department of Public Health and Human Services issued a statement saying it would comply with the order, despite disagreeing with it.

During Thursday's hearing, attorneys for the state had argued that blocking the law did not prevent the health department from promulgating new administrative rules.

The state, Moses wrote, engaged “in needless legal gymnastics to attempt to rationalize their actions and their calculated violations of the order." He called the state's interpretation of his earlier order “demonstrably ridiculous.”

“The department stands by its actions and analysis concerning the April 2022 preliminary injunction decision, as set forth in its rulemaking that addressed critical regulatory gaps left by the court,” said Jon Ebelt, spokesperson for the health department. The agency is considering its next steps in the litigation, the statement said.

“It's unfortunate that it has taken two very clear court orders and many months to comply with the law,” said Alex Rate, an attorney with the ACLU of Montana. The ACLU represents the plaintiffs, two transgender people who want to change their birth certificates.

“But from the perspective of transgender Montanans who are seeking to obtain accurate identity documents, today's announcement is certainly progress," Rate said.


Judge orders state to allow transgender Montanans to change their sex marker, state says no
Duration 2:42    View on Watch


Ebelt did not respond to an email asking when the state might start processing applications. Rate did not know how many people have sought to correct their birth certificate in recent months, but he was aware of people who had contacted the court after the April injunction and up through Monday.

In April, Moses temporarily blocked a law passed by the Republican-controlled 2021 Legislature that would require transgender residents to undergo a surgical procedure and obtain a court order before being able to change the sex on their birth certificate. He said the law was unconstitutionally vague because it did not specify what kind of surgery would be required.

Rather than returning to a 2017 rule that allowed transgender residents to file an affidavit with the health department to correct the gender on their birth certificate, the state instead issued a rule saying a person's sex could not be changed, even after having surgery.

The health department “refused to issue corrections to birth certificates for weeks in violation of the order,” Moses wrote. The state did not appeal Moses' ruling either.

The ACLU of Montana had requested the judicial clarification due to the state's inaction.

Moses' order on Monday included a copy of the 2017 rules.

“If defendants requires further clarification, they are welcome to request it from the court rather than engage in activities that constitute unlawful violations of the order,” Moses wrote.

Such open defiance of a judge’s order is very unusual from a government agency, said Carl Tobias, a former University of Montana Law School professor now at the University of Richmond. When officials disagree with a ruling, the typical response is to appeal to a higher court, he said.

“Appeal is what you contemplate — not that you can nullify a judge’s orders. Otherwise, people just wouldn’t obey the law,” Tobias said Thursday. “The system can’t work that way.”′

The legal dispute comes as conservative lawmakers in numerous states including Montana have sought to restrict transgender rights, including banning transgender girls from competing in girls school sports. A different Montana judge last week determined a law passed by state lawmakers seeking to ban transgender women from participating on female collegiate sports teams was unconstitutional.

___

Associated Press reporter Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana, contributed to this story.

Amy Beth Hanson, The Associated Press