Source: SFGate
“A controversial lithium extraction project in Imperial County has polluted wetlands connected to the Salton Sea, California’s largest and most troubled saline lake, the United States Environmental Protection Agency announced. According to an Oct. 17 news release, the agency reached a settlement with Hell’s Kitchen Geothermal LLC, also known as HKG, over its dredging and ditching work that harmed fragile wetlands connected to the ill-fated body of water. The construction work, starting in November 2021, was part of its lithium mining efforts, which are projected to bring billions of dollars to the impoverished Imperial County community and generate thousands of jobs. But it appears that it’s already having adverse impacts on the area’s ecologically fragile wetlands. When EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employees inspected HKG’s project in September 2022, they discovered that material from the site was discharged in about 27.2 acres of wetlands, a consent order obtained by SFGATE reads.” (10/22/24)
https://www.sfgate.com/california/article/lithium-mining-salton-sea-damage-19854665.php