The Imperial County community nonprofit says the Hell’s Kitchen geothermal plant and lithium mine were approved without adequate environmental considerations for water supplies, tribal cultural resources and air quality.
SAN DIEGO (CN) – A community nonprofit opposing the development of a lithium mine and geothermal power plant in California’s arid Imperial County asked a state Panel of the Court of Appeal on Thursday to reconsider their petition seeking to stop the development of the project.
The Civico del Valle Committee argued before the panel Imperial County Board of Supervisors violated the California Environmental Quality Act after approving the project based on a flawed and inadequate analysis of the project’s environmental impacts in 2024. A judge denied their petition last year.
Attorney Doug Carstens argued before the three-judge panel that the project’s environmental impact report overestimated the availability of water in Imperial County and underestimated the impact the project would have on an agricultural region already suffering from strained water resources.
The project is expected to use 6,500 acre-feet of water — or just over 2 billion gallons — annually, Carstens told the panel.
Add to this the increasing demands from others industrialagricultural and renewable energy projects in the region.
“These water demands will increase with the seemingly limited supply of water,” Carstens said. “There’s a lot of straw in that pool.”
The project, titled Hell’s Kitchen, is located nearby The Salton Seawhich is located on top of one of the largest geothermal fields in the world. Controlled Thermal Resources, the company behind the project, says lithium can also be extracted in the process of producing geothermal energy – although this technology has yet to be tested on a large scale.
In theirs opening summary, non-profit organization and its co-plaintiff environmental organization Earthworks argue that the project is expected to operate for 50 years, but a water supply assessment analyzes only 20 years of availability, leaving a significant gap of uncertainty. They also note warnings from the Imperial Irrigation District on water resource sufficiency.
“Water that seems available today may not be available in 30 or 50 years,” Carstens told the panel.
He cited ongoing withdrawals, failing reservoir river levels and Colorado River shortages, which he said the environmental impact report did not properly take into account.
Carstens also argued that Imperial County failed to adequately consult with regional Native American tribes that have cultural ties to the area where the sprawling project would take place. According to Carstens, only two tribes in the region were consulted.
The Comite Civico del Valle also mentioned the project’s potential impacts on air quality. As the Salton Sea recedes due to evaporation and increased water demand, harmful chemicals in the lake bed are exposed and can pollute the air.
Imperial County disputed many of Carstens’ arguments.
Attorney Suzanne Varco, representing Controlled thermal sourcessaid 36 tribes were contacted and none of them said they knew about cultural resources at the project site.
She described various communication efforts with various tribes since 2016. It wasn’t until much later, after the consultation period ended in 2022, that a tribal elder from the Kwaaymii Lagoon Band of Indians asked to be consulted, Varco said.
However, Associate Justice Truc Do and Associate Justice Julia Kelety said they were confused by the impact report’s inconsistencies over the 30- and 50-year timelines of water availability.
“None of these documents give me confidence that we’re looking at a 50-year time period,” Do said.
Attorney Nathan George, representing Imperial County, argued that some of the 30-year timelines were included in error, but that the overall project timeline was ultimately 50 years. He also explained that the 50-year timeframe is outlined in the final draft of the environmental impact report.
Do and Kelety were joined on the panel by Chief Justice Terry O’Rourke.
Companies have relied on geothermal energy in the area to generate electricity since the 1970s. The lithium that can be extracted during that process is the main ingredient in the batteries that power electric cars. California estimates that there is enough lithium under the Salton Sea to supply about a third of the world’s current lithium demand.
Proponents of the project say lithium mining could bring jobs and much-needed tax revenue for social services to one of California’s poorest counties.
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