Gotion scores court win in battle to build battery plant in Green Township

• A federal judge has upheld a preliminary injunction issued in May that allows Gotion to proceed with efforts to build a battery plant near Big Rapids
• The newly elected township board is trying to stall the project, which the previous board approved 
• The injunction requires the Green Township Board to comply with the development agreement Gotion signed with the previous board

Green Charter Township cannot impede Gotion Inc. from making progress on its $2.4 billion electric vehicle battery plant near Big Rapids while the company’s lawsuit against the township proceeds, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. 

U.S. District Judge Jane Beckering upheld a preliminary injunction issued in May. It requires the Green Township Board to adhere to the development agreement the battery manufacturer signed with the previously recalled township board, despite the current board’s efforts to stall the project. 

“The Court is not persuaded that such provides reason for this Court to “clarify”— let alone vacate — its decision that the Township is obliged to comply with the Development Agreement,” wrote Beckering in the ruling. 

Gotion filed a federal lawsuit in March alleging that the township broke the development agreement that requires the township to assist the company in obtaining “governmental authorizations necessary to advance and support the project.”  

Shortly after the new Green Township Board was elected in November, it rescinded a resolution supporting a water extension from the development site to water treatment facilities in Big Rapids, which prompted Gotion to file its lawsuit in March. 

Gotion included in its original proposal that it would need up to 715,000 gallons of water per day. The optimal solution would be a water line extension from the city of Big Rapids' water supply. 

Related:

• Gotion submits site plan to Mecosta County for EV battery factory
• New scrutiny challenges Michigan's investment in Gotion EV battery plant
• 5 Michigan township officials recalled for Chinese-owned Gotion project

During a board meeting in November, the board revoked a resolution the previous board passed to either route a water main directly from the Big Rapids system to the Gotion site or to construct a new city well and water plant on or near Gotion's property. 

The board also adopted an ordinance to establish its own planning commission shortly after Gotion submitted a site plan to the Mecosta County planning commission. 

The township’s planning commission created an interim zoning ordinance which would take effect before the county commission completed a full review of the company’s site plan, which trumps Mecosta County’s planning commission.

"We greatly appreciate the court's continued affirmation of our position and are eager to collaborate with the township to move this vital project forward," Chuck Thelen, vice president of Gotion Inc. said in a press statement. “The project will create more than 2,300 great-paying jobs to the families of this region.”

Many community members have criticized the project because of its potential environmental impact as well as Gotion’s ties to China. Gotion High-Tech Inc. was founded in China in 2006 but its U.S. subsidiary Gotion, Inc. was founded in 2014 in California. 

Last year, Green Township residents recalled the entire board, which supported the project, and replaced them with a new board.

The previous township board had entered an agreement with Gotion that required the board to “execute necessary easement documents to provide access to the property for any public infrastructure improvements,” but shortly after the agreement was signed, the board was recalled in October.