Why this matters
Lithium has become a crucial commodity in the global transition toward green energy. With most of it mined and refined abroad, companies are racing to tap into a vast reserve buried deep under the Salton Sea. Success could boost the U.S. as a global player in lithium production and related industries. Locals hope benefits will come back to the community.
A new lawsuit has asked a Superior Court judge to block an Australian company from extracting lithium from brine deep beneath the earth’s surface around the Salton Sea until more research can be completed on the industry’s environmental impact.
The lawsuit, filed last month by two advocacy groups, says the environmental review adopted by the county racing to extract the valuable metal used in electric car batteries violates the California Environmental Quality Act, also known as CEQA. It also underscores the growing tension in Imperial Valley between those who see the need to capitalize on opportunity quickly and others who say it’s crucial to slow down to consider long-term impacts.
In December, the county adopted the review for the first phase of the Hell’s Kitchen Lithium and Power project, a lithium extraction campus being built by the company Controlled Thermal Resources, or CTR. Officials broke ground on the site in January.
The lawsuit says the review downplays how much water the project will use, accounting for only a fragment of the 190-acre development the company announced in the wake of the report’s approval. It says that the demand will far exceed the Imperial Irrigation District’s allotment for industrial use.
The lawsuit also says the county report claims, without offering any evidence, that the plant would not generate any waste because toxic byproducts would be sold. The report also doesn’t include measures that address tribal concerns such as employing tribal monitors to consult during construction in areas near sensitive cultural resources along the Southeast Lake Cahuilla Active Volcanic Cultural District.
The coalition that filed the lawsuit is made up of the Comite Civico del Valle, a decades-old advocacy group in Imperial Valley, along with Earthworks, a national nonprofit that works to secure protections from extractive industries. Coalition members say the county approved the report without considering changes they proposed that would address limiting water usage and mitigating air quality concerns.
The facility would be the first to come online of what the county projects to be more than 51,000 acres of lithium industry development around the shores of Salton Sea, which for decades has been the source of toxic dust exposed by the receding water line.
Studies have correlated the dust with outstanding numbers of respiratory illness in the county. Construction would take place in a region lined by some of the county’s most disadvantaged communities.
“We sought to engage with CTR to agree collaboratively on necessary mitigation measures,” said Luis Olmedo, executive director of Comite Civico del Valle. “Unfortunately, CTR refused to further engage with us, leaving us no choice but to file a legal challenge to protect our communities from a harmful mineral extraction project.”
Rod Colwell, CEO of CTR, told inewsource that despite the lawsuit community members have come out in support of its project plans.
“It’s disappointing to see Comite Civico del Valle file this lawsuit after many years of engagement,” Colwell said. “CEQA is intended to provide decision-making agencies and the public with detailed information about the environmental considerations for any project. Unfortunately, CEQA litigation has become an all too common and anticipated step in nearly every major development in California.”
Colwell also said “CTR is extremely proud to be a part of this community, which has seen its fair share of challenges over the years yet continues to work hard to build the foundations for a better future.”
Jordan Sisson, an attorney representing CCV and Earthworks, said that CEQA “is intended not only to inform decision makers, but also to reduce impacts by outlining feasible project alternatives and mitigation measures, which were left off the table here.”
He said his clients are not alone in their concerns.
“More than 40 local and statewide environmental justice, social justice, tribal, and civil rights leaders are urging the Attorney General to intervene in the CEQA action,” Sisson said.
Companies setting up shop in Imperial Valley have been trying to get the green light to extract lithium stored deep under the Salton Sea for years.
California has funded efforts to obtain the metal in Imperial Valley and identified lithium extraction in the region as an important part of its climate plan. The state and the federal government have also funded educational programs to prepare locals for the lithium workforce. State senators have been working to pass tax incentives with the hopes of attracting “Lithium Valley” investment.
Local leaders including Supervisor Ryan Kelley have championed lithium projects, saying they will transform the valley into a national green energy hub bringing jobs to the county, which last year had the state’s highest unemployment rate. Community advocates have largely backed the county’s efforts but have insisted that they don’t come at the expense of environmental and public health.
Before filing the lawsuit, Comite brought concerns about the environmental review to a county supervisors meeting. A number of impassioned community members, tradespeople and advocates spoke during public comment. Some voiced frustration that the lawsuit was delaying the prospect of future jobs and others said those jobs should not overshadow the need for thorough protections for a community that has been disappointed by green industry in the past.
Carmen Lucas, a Kwaaymii Indian who has been closely involved in the discussions, told county supervisors they had yet to consult with her despite her written request.
“I am smelling something that doesn’t smell good, and it’s not the Salton Sea,” Lucas said.
She added: “I know that Washington looks at us just like they did with the windmills at Ocotillo Wind, just like they have with the solar panels, looking at this desert thinking it’s a wasteland. It is not a wasteland, but we are making it a wasteland.”
Kelley told inewsource that he believes the board has listened and responded to the concerns that Comite raised.
“(The concerns) didn’t rise to a level that we were going to deny this project,” Kelley said.
Kelley also said it is important to get the first lithium projects up and running or else California risks drawing on resources from neighboring states where open-pit lithium mines are being approved.
“Are we cutting our nose off to spite our face?” Kelley said, referring to deferring the development of the industry.
The extraction projects in California plan to draw lithium through a direct extraction method that utilizes geothermal plants, a new process that allegedly is much less environmentally impactful than traditional lithium mining. It’s a new process, and some experts say there is not enough data to show what kind of mitigation will be required, let alone how impactful direct lithium extraction will be on a commercial scale.
For Kelley, what the community will get in return outweighs the unknowns he believes the county and lithium companies can face down the line.
According to Michael Bracken, an economist contracted by the county, the Hell’s Kitchen facility will employ 250 construction workers for two-year stretches during the building phase, and 75 full-time operational jobs at the plant. He says that over a 30-year period the project will have a $1.6 billion impact on the regional economy.
The Imperial Irrigation District has been incentivizing farmers to cut back on water use to meet goals in response to the Southwest facing growing concerns. With the impacts of climate change, there are a lot of unknowns about the future of Colorado River water. Still, the Imperial Irrigation District has the largest allotment of water from the river and believes it can support the industry.
“We have sufficient water to meet location demands but simply need to develop internal mechanisms to distribute/redistribute that water and conservation supplies internally to our existing and new users if/when they come online,” Robert Schettler, a spokesperson for the district, told inewsource in an email.
But without a thorough analysis, Jared Naimark, Earthwork’s California organizer, is left with questions.
“Where is that water going to come from?” Naimark said. “We are asking for transparency, and for CTR to implement mitigation measures that reduce freshwater consumption in a region where every drop matters.”
The county has yet to respond to the lawsuit.
Type of Content
News: Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
