Imperial Valley, Salton Sea highlighted in congressional hearing

Imperial Valley, lithium extraction and the Salton Sea were among the topics on the table during a congressional hearing with the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy.

U.S. Congressman Raul Ruiz and U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm addressed the clean energy opportunities at the Salton Sea and the need to protect the community’s public health. They highlighted local residents’ experiences with the public health and environmental impacts of the Salton Sea, calling for meaningful consultation with the community as the nation seeks to unlock the clean energy potential of the sea’s lithium deposit.

“I was pleased to bring you to North Shore at the Salton Sea so that you could hear directly from the local residents – especially moms – about the environmental and public health crisis at the

Sea and our clean energy opportunities in the region,” Ruiz said in the hearing. “We also visited many community leaders at Calipatria High School to discuss how lithium could be transformative for the region, but only if it was done right. … That means doing it with transformative community development benefits in infrastructure, health care, education and workforce development so that the people working in these lithium extraction facilities are the local community members who need and deserve these jobs. We need to make sure that the companies do not simply come in, extract the wealth from the community and leave.”

Ruiz and Granholm on April 20 visited the North Shore Yacht Club in Riverside County and Calipatria High School in Imperial County where they held community listening sessions with local residents. In the hearing, Granholm noted that the community’s input from these sessions would be incorporated into future plans at the Department of Energy.