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 major lithium extraction project in Imperial County, currently blocked in state court, just got a boost from the Trump administration aimed at helping the project navigate federal hurdles.
Controlled Thermal Resources’ Hell’s Kitchen project was designated under the federal FAST-41 program, an Obama-era initiative that helps coordinate and keep environmental reviews on schedule.
The designation is the first show of support since Trump took office in January for projects in Lithium Valley, named for the vast stores of lithium estimated to be buried beneath the Salton Sea.
Rod Colwell, CEO of Controlled Thermal Resources, said the company is “honored to be recognized as a priority development” by the Trump administration.
Controlled Thermal Resources broke ground on the Hell’s Kitchen project on the south end of the Salton Sea last year, racing to be the first to extract lithium on a commercial level in the region. But environmental groups sued to block the project, which remains on hold after the groups appealed the dismissal of their lawsuit. No companies have launched commercial extraction yet.
The groups alleged that Imperial County’s environmental impact report for the project violated the California Environmental Quality Act and that it failed to properly analyze and mitigate potential impacts. The county has said the lawsuit is delaying the project and its potential benefits. The company said CEQA litigation has become an “all too common and anticipated step in nearly every major development in California.”
The federal designation under FAST-41, announced Tuesday by the company, does not allow the project to bypass environmental reviews.
Rather, the program provides a federal project coordinator to help solve problems between stakeholders and keep projects on schedule, and enlists the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to “invite cooperating agencies” to develop a plan. It also provides projects with more federal visibility and tracks the project’s progress on a public dashboard.
Emily Domenech, executive director of the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, which oversees the program, said the Hell’s Kitchen project, which combines both mining and processing lithium, is exactly in line with the future goals of the program.
“I look forward to working with industry and federal partners to unlock our country’s vast energy and mineral resources and reduce our reliance on China,” she said.
The company says that at full scale, the project could produce up to 500 megawatts of renewable power and 175,000 metric tons of lithium annually. Last year 240,000 metric tons of lithium were produced globally.
