County gets another big hit with fed energy secretary visit
CALIPATRIA — For the second time in as many days Wednesday, Imperial County’s embryonic lithium industry shone brightly on the largest of stages with a visit by U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm.
It followed news Tuesday an Italian energy entrepreneur launched a company, Statevolt that inked an agreement to buy lithium from geothermal developer Controlled Thermal Resources and use it to manufacture batteries in Imperial County, potentially creating thousands of jobs.
The day started with Granholm and other elected officials touring the Salton
Sea area and the geothermal plants that will help produce lithium, and meeting with some residents. The afternoon event was a community session at Calipatria High School focusing on a range of issues related to the Salton Sea and lithium.
“From the Department of Energy perspective, it is important we develop these resources and hear from the communities. The communities are driving the bus,” Granholm, a former governor of Michigan, said in her opening remarks of the afternoon session to about two dozen representatives from various local organization seated in a rectangle of tables.
Several dozen others were in an audience seated outside the main tables.
“I’ve got my notebook. The president asked me to listen and take back to him what we discussed. We do not want to see a resource developed by those who come in and go away,” she added.
Granholm then asked questions to the group on three topics—the health effects of the Salton Sea, the economics of the lithium industry, and education and workforce issues—and patiently listened to the answers.
“What was the most impactful mitigation measure” involving the Salton Sea?, Granholm asked, flanked at the head table by Calipatria City Manager Rom Medina and high school Principal Joe Derma III.
The responses focused more on what might be done to reduce pollution in the area, some of which comes from the shriveling sea.
“The funding that mitigates those issues,” said Eric Reyes, director of Los Amigos De La Comunidad. “Preventative medicine issues. More medical care. Specialists, so kids don’t have to go out of town to the doctor.”
Daniela Flores of the Imperial Valley Equity and Justice Coalition noted there is great disparity in Imperial County between the earnings of its many farmworkers and those more well off. That has devastating consequences.
“COVID. Imperial County has the worst death rate in the state. That’s not a coincidence,” she said.
Of the lithium plans, she added, “The method of extraction is cleaner than in Chile and China, but not clean. It still pollutes. Rightly, we’re skeptical if the benefits will be comparable for the community (versus for developers). What is the occupational impact (for lithium workers)?”
County Supervisor Ryan Kelley, long a strong proponent of lithium development and whose district includes much of the county’s North End, acknowledged the health concerns.
“From everyone in this room, there is an issue of exploitation,” he said. “This county has been serving the needs of metropolitan California. We do not want this to continue. If you have any sway to turn the attention of other members of the administration, that would be very helpful. We want people to choose to live here and to keep the families we have.
Granholm’s visit was reportedly at least partially the result of a meeting President Joe Biden had with California Gov. Gavin Newsom about a month ago in which the state’s lithium industry was among the issues discussed.
Lithium is the mineral used in the batteries of electric vehicles and it is found in abundance in the scalding water pumped from the ground to generate electricity at the county’s numerous geothermal plants. At least two operators of active geothermal plants have plans to build companion plants to capture and process the mineral.