FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 20, 2026

MEDIA CONTACT
Thairy Martinez, 213-421-7304, tmartinez@leadershipcounsel.org

THERMAL, CA — On January 16, Semillas de Resistencia, represented by Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability and Chatten-Brown Law Group, filed a lawsuit in Riverside County Superior Court challenging the County of Riverside’s approval of a sprawling 619-acre development centered around a 231-acre luxury equestrian center. The County approved the project despite the fact that it will increase air pollution, and without requiring a detailed plan for safely handling 140,000 pounds of manure per day. The lawsuit alleges that the County violated environmental law by approving the project based on a flawed and misleading environmental review, putting nearby residents at risk of increased air pollution and unsafe manure management.

The lawsuit challenges the County’s certification of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) that acknowledges significant and unavoidable harms to air quality and agricultural land, but rejects feasible mitigation measures to reduce these impacts and also relies on vague, shifting, and incomplete descriptions of key project operations. The lawsuit argues that these shortcomings deprived the County and the public of a meaningful opportunity to understand and weigh in on the project before it was approved. 

“The county did not take us or our experiences into account when making their decision; they did not consider the consequences it would have on us,” said a member of Semillas de Resistencia who lives near the proposed project. 

The Thermal Ranch project is a large-scale development proposed in a rural area of the Eastern Coachella Valley, known as Thermal, CA. The project is centered around a large equestrian and event facility, accompanied by resort, commercial uses, and residential uses. The project also includes new supporting infrastructure, including a 5-million gallon water reservoir and a new electrical substation, required to support the intensive operations of the project. The project is expected to draw in thousands of visitors and generate substantial daily traffic, air pollution, and congestion in close proximity to existing homes and schools. 

Community members are also deeply concerned about the project’s equestrian operations and management. While the development is set to produce massive amounts of animal waste daily, the environmental review never clearly explains where that waste would go, how often it would be hauled, or what safeguards would be in place to protect nearby neighborhoods from odors, air emissions, and potential groundwater contamination. Key details that were left out to meaningfully analyze how the project would affect already existing and overburdened communities that continue to face disinvestment and environmental challenges. 

In addition, while the County points to the new water and electrical infrastructure as a community benefit of the project, nearby communities and Polanco parks — most of which still lack access to reliable water and services — would not directly benefit from this investment. 

“Residents living near this project have a right to know that all necessary steps will be taken to protect the quality of the air they breathe and water they drink,” said Seth Alston, Staff Attorney with Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability. “The environmental review of this project was deeply flawed and must be corrected.” 

Despite these impacts, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors approved the project based on projections of economic development, job creation, and infrastructure investments. However, those projections are non-binding benefits that do not justify exposing local communities to long-term environmental and public health risks — particularly when the County has a history of broken promises when it comes to developments in this region. 

Semillas de Resistencia demands stronger protections to ensure they are not forced to shoulder disproportionate environmental burdens for the sake of yet another luxury development in the Eastern Coachella Valley. 

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Semillas de Resistencia is a community organization formed by Coachella residents in response to large-scale development projects in their region. The group advocates for just land use policies, environmental justice, and community-driven decision making to ensure growth does not come at the expense of residents’ health, land, or quality of life. 

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability works alongside the most impacted communities in the San Joaquin Valley and Eastern Coachella Valley to advocate for sound policy and eradicate injustice to secure equal access to opportunity regardless of wealth, race, income, and place. Leadership Counsel focuses on issues like housing, land use, transportation, safe and affordable drinking water and climate change impacts on communities.

​Chatten-Brown Law Group provides legal representation to those who wish to protect California’s natural resources and the health and wellbeing of its residents. Chatten-Brown Law Group is committed to environmental protection, representing environmental non-profits, community groups, and individuals seeking to enforce state and federal environmental laws.