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County counsel reports tentative decision on Lithium Valley CEQA petition; outside counsel fees exceed $125,000 so far, county told
Summary
Imperial County's legal team reported a tentative decision denying a CEQA petition challenging the Lithium Valley project and said outside counsel fees for the county exceed $125,000 to date; counsel said those fees would be reimbursed by the developer.
County counsel reported to the Board of Supervisors on a litigation item listed on the closed-session calendar: Comite Civico Del Valle and Earthworks v. County of Imperial, Imperial County Superior Court case number ECU-003425. Counsel said a tentative decision was released that would deny the CEQA petition challenging the Lithium Valley project.
County counsel acknowledged the county's outside legal team by name and noted the county's fees for one outside law firm, Remy Moose Manley, have exceeded $125,000 to date. Counsel said the developer involved in the litigation will reimburse those costs. The report acknowledged significant work by outside and local CEQA counsel and county staff in defending the county's environmental impact report.
The board later met in closed session and the county counsel reported the board had "direction given" in closed session matters but no reportable action. The limited public update provided by counsel did not disclose strategy or privileged deliberations, consistent with the Brown Act limits on closed-session disclosures.
This was an informational report and a closed-session status update; no settlement or final court ruling was announced at the meeting.
Sources: County counsel's closed-session update to the Board of Supervisors; public report identifying case number ECU-003425.
