Lawsuit challenges lithium project at California’s Salton Sea

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.