Boiling Point: The Salton Sea Lithium Rush

Dusk settles over a project to create wetlands for fish and birds at the southern end of the Salton Sea Welcome to Boiling Point. “Controlled Thermal Resources boasts about the sustainability attributes of direct lithium extraction, yet public health, hazardous waste, and water concerns remain unresolved,” said Luis Olmedo, executive director of Comite Civico del Valle. Jim Turner, Controlled Thermal Resources’ president, said the company spent two years performing studies to ensure that the lithium could be extracted safely. Last year, Jeff Marootian, a U.S. Department of Energy official, said the Salton Sea was a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a domestic lithium industry at home while also expanding clean, flexible electricity generation.” But the groups that filed the lawsuit point out that the direct lithium extraction process has not yet been used on a commercial scale, leaving many things uncertain. “Why does my child have a nosebleed in the seasons when it’s windy?’ When we went to the Central Valley, they did not have nosebleeds.” Comite Civico del Valle and Earthworks say they believe that the company and county have underestimated the amount of water that Hell’s Kitchen and the other planned lithium extraction projects will use.