An electric vehicle battery manufacturer is pausing its project near Big Rapids while its lawsuit plays out.
In August 2023, Green Charter Township officials inked a deal with Gotion, a U.S. subsidiary of a Chinese company, for a more than $2 billion battery plant.
It promised over 2,000 new jobs for the rural Mecosta County area near Big Rapids.
But a group of residents fiercely opposed the project, some because they feared Gotion's ties to China's ruling Communist party and some because they said the plant would pollute the environment.
U.S. Gotion executives have said the company operates independently in the U.S. and fears of water contamination are unfounded.
Residents recalled pro-Gotion officials, and Gotion sued after the new township leadership tried to back out of the deal; the lawsuit is now before a federal appeals court.
Oral argument in the case will be held in early May.
