(NewsNation) — A judge has ordered a Michigan community to stop blocking efforts to bring a major electric vehicle battery business to a rural region.
Gotion, a China-based manufacturer, was granted a preliminary injunction Friday after arguing that Mecosta County’s Green Township has refused to stick to an agreement made by elected officials who were subsequently removed from office.
In the wake of the judge’s ruling, community leaders say their fight is far from over.
The community has been upset about the company’s Chinese connections and voted out the entire town government that supported the project. They thought by doing that, they could stop the deal from going through. They even tried to stop the water hookups for the company. Gotion sued the township, and the federal judge has now ruled the project should be allowed to move forward while the legal case continues.
Federal Judge Jane Beckering wrote, “The significant monetary and contractual harms Gotion would suffer if the Project, an extensive undertaking with coordinated construction processes, were to continue to be delayed qualify as irreparable injury under Sixth Circuit precedent.
“In particular, Gotion has indicated that without assurance that it can obtain the water infrastructure that is critical for the Project, ‘the Project has been delayed and continues to be delayed with each passing day.'”
The Gotion project has been backed primarily by Democrats in the area. The community has pointed out that the federal judge is a Democrat appointed by President Joe Biden.
“(People) are a little bit let down,” said local Lori Brock. “It’s not going to stop us. It makes us determined. We have 85% against Gotion. We are against politicians putting a lithium battery plant in our neighborhood. We don’t want it here, but they put it down our throats. When we have the community backing us, we will win.”
The community leaders are forming their own zoning board, which they hope will also add roadblocks to the project. As for Gotion, they say they “look forward to working with the township to move the project forward.”