Kankakee Times

Manteno resident Ed Wagner is one of a group of Manteno residents who are pursuing legal action to prevent Chinese battery manufacturer Gotion from opening a plant in the village.

Wagner lives across the street from where the battery plant would be located.

He and other residents are against a proposed $2 billion lithium-ion car battery plant to be based in the village.

“I think the mayor did a dirty deed. I think that this place should not be here. This is light industrial. There’s a no smokestack law in effect in Manteno. It’s just insane. It’s not, if it starts a fire, it’s when it starts on fire. I got 10 minutes to get out of here,” Wagner told Kankakee Times.

“I don’t mind living next to an industrial complex as long as it’s American-owned and it’s not lithium-ion batteries or manufacturing.”

The lack of transparency around the plant’s planning has been astounding, according to Wagner. He said one of the most egregious issues with the plant announcement is that Manteno’s Village Board and mayor have signed non-disclosure agreements preventing them from speaking about village business in relation to the proposed Gotion plant.

“They do the dirty deed to sign a nondisclosure agreement, so they won’t tell anybody what’s going on. So, you know, and they’re. They’re screwing the people of Manteno,” Wagner said.

“They work for us. We don’t work for them.”

He and others have vowed to remove the local politicians responsible for the deal.

Wagner said while he doesn’t anticipate he’ll stay in Illinois much longer due to the state’s increasingly radical politics, he feels the need to help the community keep Gotion out.

Wagner and others came together to hire Minneapolis-based attorney Robby Dube to push back.

“As much as I can to diffuse and get them out of here. I put in $5,000 to hire the attorneys from Minneapolis, Minnesota. They’re the ones that kicked out the Gotion out of South Dakota,” Wagner said.

Dube has been legal counsel in such fights before, according to Center Square.

More recently, in Michigan Dube has been representing other local residents who are opposing another Gotion plant backed by Ford.

Dube is currently the attorney on two Michigan court cases that have been gaining attention as residents express concerns about electric vehicle battery manufacturing in their communities.

In one case, a legal demand letter challenges the Michigan Economic Development Corp.’s Renaissance Zone designation for the Gotion battery plant near Big Rapids, Mich. while in another, a nonprofit group is seeking a referendum to stop the development of the Blue Oval industrial site in Marshall, Mich. arguing that it should be legally required.

Wagner pointed to 2021 the Morris Fire in Morris, Illinois as a reason why a battery plant should not be located close to residential areas.

“Look at the Morris Fire in Morris, Illinois,” he said. “That was cell phone batteries. That wasn’t even car batteries. So, no. Not doing it. Not staying here. I’ll help. I’ll do what I can to get them out. I’m still moving. It doesn’t matter.”

In that instance, a large industrial fire in Morris, southwest suburban Illinois, involving nearly 100 tons of lithium batteries led to emergency evacuations as authorities warned of “highly poisonous” and “very deadly” fumes. Firefighters had to stop using water to battle the blaze due to the risk of lithium batteries shorting out, igniting, and exploding when wet, NBC 5 Chicago reported.

Illinois politicians and members of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party have been raising concerns about the generous subsidies proposed for the plant. While Gotion, which has ties to the Chinese Communist Party, plans to build the $2 billion plant in Manteno, it will potentially receive $7.5 billion in federal tax credits.

Opponents have noted the situation highlights worries about U.S. economic and national security and calls for legislative changes regarding the 45X tax credit program, as critics argue that subsidizing a Chinese company with ties to the CCP poses a direct threat to American interests.

The deal, recently announced by the Office of the Illinois Governor, is being met with controversy at a time when the FBI has publicly warned about China’s efforts to steal American technology, including AI research, and incidents involving Chinese nationals accessing sensitive U.S. military bases, raising espionage concerns amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and China.