Lawsuit challenges lithium project at California’s Salton Sea

By Hannah Northey | 03/14/2024 04:16 PM EDT

The project has been approved near the southeastern shore of the California lake.

Rod Colwell and Tracy Sizemore walk along geothermal mud pots near the shore of the Salton Sea.

Rod Colwell (right), CEO of Controlled Thermal Resources, and Tracy Sizemore, the company's chief revenue officer, walking in July 2021 along geothermal mud pots near the shore of the Salton Sea in Niland, California. Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP

This story was updated at 10:07 p.m. EDT.

Environmental justice groups on Thursday sued officials who signed off on a lithium project in the Salton Sea that a top Biden official has helped advance.

Comité Civico del Valle and Earthworks filed the legal complaint in Imperial County Superior Court against county officials who approved conditional permits for Controlled Thermal Resources’ Hell’s Kitchen lithium and geothermal project.

The groups argue that the county’s approval of the direct lithium extraction and geothermal brine project near the southeastern shore of the Salton Sea violates county and state laws, such as the California Environmental Quality Act.

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