A California state court has dismissed environmental groups’ challenge to a lithium and geothermal project near the Salton Sea.
In a short tentative decision Thursday, Judge Jeffrey Jones of the Imperial County Superior Court ruled Imperial County officials’ analysis of the project’s possible risks had complied with the California Environmental Quality Act.
The Hell’s Kitchen Lithium and Power project developed by the mining company Controlled Thermal Resources (CTR) is designed to generate geothermal power and extract lithium about a mile from the Salton Sea, an inland saline lake.
The project, which has been championed by Biden senior adviser John Podesta, is intended to feed both growing demand for electric vehicle batteries and renewable energy.
