A California judge has denied environmentalists’ claims that the Hells Kitchen lithium extraction project approved by Imperial County officials was not adequately studied for water supply or air pollution issues, and did not consult properly with area tribes. Commercially processed lithium is a key component of electric vehicles, smart phones and myriad other products, and the north end of the county sits atop a huge underground reserve of the whitish substance and other minerals. Comite Civico del Valle and Earthworks filed suit in 2024, alleging county planners and consultants had not adequately considered the potential environmental impacts of a nearly $2 billion project dubbed Hells Kitchen, the first of several related projects which Controlled Thermal Resources aims to develop along the fast-drying southern edge of the Salton Sea, between Calipatria and Niland. Largely destitute residents here suffer elevated rates of asthma and heart disease. The effects on fast-dwindling Colorado River water supply and tribal resources were also not addressed, the groups said.