"Massive Salton Sea lithium project gets judge’s go-ahead, ending advocates’ lawsuit", 30 January 2025.

An Imperial County judge cleared the way for the Hell’s Kitchen project, one of the world’s largest lithium mines, when he recently dismissed a lawsuit filed by civic and environmental groups.

Hell’s Kitchen, in the Salton Sea, promises to unearth a motherlode of lithium, a mineral essential to electric car batteries, cellphones and other electronics. While the court decision is expected to open a floodgate for U.S. lithium production, it has disappointed community organizers who worry the mine will endanger nearby residents.

The nonprofits Comite Civico del Valle and Earthworks argued in their lawsuit that the environmental review for Hell’s Kitchen did not fully address the project’s effects on water supply and air quality, and that the company developing it, Controlled Thermal Resources, didn’t consult with local Native American tribes as required by law. On Jan. 9 Superior Court Judge... ruled that Controlled Thermal Resources had met those requirements, freeing it to resume construction.

Opponents said that decision greenlights the project without sufficient environmental protection and community input.

“A just transition to renewable energy requires that we don’t create new sacrifice zones for lithium mining,” Jared Naimark, California mining organizer with Earthworks, said in a statement.

Rodney Colwell, CEO of Controlled Thermal Resources, said he is pleased with the decision and expects to start construction in five to six months. However, the lawsuit set the project back a year or more.

“We’re happy to get past it, but it has cost us a lot of time and it has put the project at risk,” he said. “We haven’t been able to raise capital. We haven’t been able to move forward with development at all.”...

Olmedo [Executive Director for Comite Civico del Valle] said the court ruling doesn’t satisfy the nonprofits’ concerns. They want stronger water conservation measures, better protections for tribal resources and more details about waste generation and water recycling. They’re seeking a legal agreement between the company and Imperial Valley residents to ensure those demands are satisfied.

Olmedo said his organization “will exhaust all available legal and public policy channels, including consideration of appealing the trial decision, to ensure that the residents and environment of the Imperial Valley receive the highest threshold of protection.”