… Located in the northern end of Imperial County, Calipatria is one of the communities closest to the so-called Lithium Valley, where an underground reservoir of geothermal brine beneath the Salton Sea contains one of the world’s largest lithium deposits. It’s at the center of plans, long touted by businesses and politicians as high up as Gov. Gavin Newsom, to transform California’s neglected, polluted and job-poor Imperial Valley into a hub for green industry. Imperial County has ambitious plans to develop 51,000 acres of land along the sea for renewable energy, lithium extraction and associated infrastructure. But some are concerned that the county’s plans, including its proposal to fast-track a wide range of industrial projects, could further exacerbate the region’s public health crisis.