A California appellate court has ruled that Imperial County must overhaul key portions of its environmental review for Controlled Thermal Resources’ high-profile Hell’s Kitchen geothermal and lithium project. … Tuesday’s decision by the California Court of Appeal reverses a lower ruling by the Imperial County Superior Court, finding that the project’s initial environmental impact report under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) fell short. … The ruling marks a pivotal moment for the burgeoning “Lithium Valley” beneath the Salton Sea, where vast underground deposits of the metal—crucial for electric vehicle batteries and renewable energy storage—are drawing a rush of industrial interest. … [R]esidents in the heavily agricultural and historically overburdened Imperial Valley have raised persistent concerns regarding how the water-intensive process will impact local supplies.

Related:

• The Desert Review (Brawley, Calif.): Appeals court finds major CEQA failures in County approval of Hell’s Kitchen lithium project
• Calexico Chronicle (Calif.): Calif. Court of Appeal orders Imperial County to correct deficiencies in Hell’s Kitchen approval