GREEN CHARTER TWP., Mich. (Michigan News Source) – It’s been more than two years since Michigan officials approved a massive state-funded incentive package for China-linked Gotion Inc. Backed by Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer and her party, the deal included $175 million in grants from the Strategic Site Readiness and Critical Industry programs. It also came with a Renaissance Zone tax break worth over $540 million – all to build a shiny new battery component plant in Mecosta County.
So where’s the progress? It doesn’t appear to be in Green Charter Township.
MORE NEWS: This Headline Was Not Written By AI, But Oakland Schools Says That’s Coming
In a May 20 letter, watchdog group EDRA of Michigan (Economic Development Responsibility Alliance of Michigan) urged the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) to enforce its own contracts, alleging that Gotion has violated numerous key terms of the agreement.
The demand letter seeks remedy in the form of compliance enforcement, contract re-evaluation, and the initiation of default proceedings. The letter was also sent to the Michigan House Oversight Committee, as well as members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, asking legislators to verify whether Gotion’s Annual Progress Reports have been submitted to the Legislature as is required by MCL 125.2009.
EDRA is calling for a full clawback of funds due to abandonment, misrepresentation, and failure to deliver basic compliance documents like annual progress reports and environmental assessments.
Paper promises, real problems.
According to EDRA, contract terms state that Gotion was supposed to submit annual reports and compliance certificates beginning in October 2023 and October 2024. The watchdog group says there are no public records that the state ever received them – or the Legislature as required. There’s also no reported sign of the mandatory environmental baseline assessment due in 2023.
Meanwhile, EDRA says that Gotion has only acquired about half the land it promised to buy, its Mecosta County office sits empty, and the promise of 586 jobs by the end of 2024 did not materialize.
Additionally, on May 1, 2024, Gotion pulled its site plan from local review for rezoning. Since then, it has ghosted every permitting agency involved. That silence could spell legal abandonment under the Strategic Site Readiness Program agreement, which requires activity within 120 days. Gotion has been idle for over a year.
A swamp of their own making.
MORE NEWS: Code Blue: Michigan’s Rural Hospitals at Risk of Closing
According to EDRA, the proposed factory site includes extensive wetlands, moist moraine soils, and is located in an area with a documented history of flooding. A 1975 Ferris State study recorded four 100-year floods within a span of 75 years in the region, one of which resulted in a fatality and led to a successful lawsuit. These factors raise questions about the site’s suitability for a lithium battery facility.
The area also drains directly into Dalziel Creek, a cold water transitional stream, which feeds into the Muskegon River less than a mile away – raising serious environmental red flags. State documents say Gotion claimed the site was suitable for construction and in compliance with environmental rules. EDRA says that’s a misrepresentation.
Michigan News Source reached out to Gotion’s North American Manufacturing Vice President Chuck Thelen for a response to the EDRA press release and letter. When asked if he wanted to make a statement, he said, “No, I don’t.”
Lawsuits, recalls, and revolt.
The Gotion project has stirred controversy in Mecosta County from the start – and not just because of the scale of the project. Locals have raised red flags over environmental risks, concerns about groundwater contamination, and the company’s ties to China, given that Gotion is a subsidiary of a Chinese parent company. For many, that’s a national security issue, not just a zoning dispute.
But instead of winning over the community, Gotion went to war with it – literally suing their host township. Since then, both the Mecosta County Board and Green Charter Township flipped their stance, and voters swept nearly every pro-Gotion official out of office in a wave of recalls in the fall of 2023. And despite claims from local officials, public support was never as high as advertised. Watchdog group EDRA alleges that local leaders misled lawmakers with false testimony about “90% support” without a single legitimate poll to prove it.
Time to pull the plug?
Despite a lawsuit, the history of floods, the empty town office, and a year-long stall, Gotion’s subsidies remain untouched. EDRA wants MEDC to stop pretending everything is fine and start the default process, demanding full repayment. If Michigan’s leaders don’t act soon, taxpayers might be left holding a $700 million bag filled with nothing but mud and missed deadlines.
