CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — As Corpus Christi reconsiders the Inner Harbor desalination project to address the region’s drought, some residents are asking: Why don’t we sell the desalination byproduct?
Extracting salt from saltwater is an ancient practice, and today, it is big business. The process creates fresh water for agriculture, drinking, and industry. And the leftovers are valuable.
The concentrated desalination residue — known as brine — is rich in minerals, including lithium, magnesium, copper, and zinc. Roughly 18,000 desal plants worldwide take in 23 trillion gallons of seawater each year, producing more than 37 billion gallons of brine daily, enough to fill 50,000 Olympic-size pools. That’s roughly $2.2 trillion worth of materials, according to the Brine Miners, a team of researchers at Oregon State University.
Some companies — and even the Department of Defense — plan to mine seawater for these materials.
Magrathea, a California-based tech company, is developing a process for the production of magnesium metal from seawater and brine. And they’re doing this with a $28 million public-private partnership with the US Department of Defense to fund the scale-up of the company’s technology for producing light metal, according to their website.
China controls the majority of the world’s supply of what are known as "rare earth elements,” like magnesium -- a key ingredient in the production of steel and devices ranging from EV batteries, smartphones, to military fighter jets.
As trade tensions between the U.S. and China continue to rise, making metal in America would strengthen manufacturing and our national security.
The concept isn’t new.
Freeport, Texas, once home to the nation’s largest seawater magnesium plant, produced metal for military aircraft during World War II. As the cost to make it increased and demand rose in the 1950s and 60s, magnesium imports replaced seawater production. In 1998, Hurricane Frances damaged the Freeport facility, and it was decommissioned shortly after, according to the American Chemical Society.
Corpus Christi Water officials tell KRIS6 News that there have been informal conversations about harvesting minerals from brine, and that a few companies have expressed interest. But no plan exists because the city currently has no functioning desal plant. In September, City Council voted 6-3 to halt the $1.2 billion project with original contractor Kiewit, following 13 hours of heated public testimony over cost concerns and alternative water options.
City Council will consider reviving the Inner Harbor Desalination Project, but not without continued controversy.
Local activists and environmental groups warn that any brine discharged into Corpus Christi Bay could damage marine ecosystems, increase salinity levels, and harm the people within the plant's proximity.
Hillcrest, where the plant would be located, is a historically Black and Mexican neighborhood already burdened by industrial development with a history of segregation and neglect. Residents there argue that building a plant in their backyard would be discriminatory and harmful.
In October, 2022, Earthjustice, on behalf of Hillcrest Residents Association and Citizens Alliance for Fairness and Progress, submitted a civil rights complaint to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) against the City of Corpus Christi for violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Whether desalination becomes a financial windfall or an environmental risk remains unresolved. Until a plant is approved and built, the region’s salty byproducts remain an untapped resource with unknown consequences.
