Kankakee Times

Manteno resident Shannyn Dockery, an award-winning teacher with a focus on environmentalism, has deep concerns about the potential environmental effects of the proposed Gotion lithium-ion car battery plant on the Kankakee River and local endangered species. She and her husband, whose family has lived in Manteno for seven generations, are raising their children in the town.

“There are huge concern to this. My mom just passed away almost two years ago now from cancer and the effects of all the chemicals and the treatment and the water waste that's going to be going out. I don't know how it's going to affect the environment. I can't expect it to be anything positive,” Dockery told the Kankakee Times.

Responding to accusations of right-wing activism by media outlets, such as the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times, Dockery clarified her focus on environmental concerns rather than political affiliations, emphasizing the collective opposition's diversity.

“They're wrong. They're incredibly wrong. Right-wing, Left-wing. It's all the same bird,” Dockery said.

”I don't have political ties either way. I have environmental ties for my children. I have heard them call us a clown. Well, I can tell you, I have a bachelor's degree. I have a master's degree. I have done my research with the environment.”

“It's not an extreme thing to say, they're going to be putting water in (the Kankakee River). They've already admitted that it's going to be more acidic, so they're going to have to treat it. Well, that can't be good no matter what. There's a lot of families that are very concerned in our opposition and are neither a right-wing or left-wing, they're not extremists.”

She stressed the importance of spreading factual information and raising awareness about the potential ecological impact on endangered species in the Kankakee County area.

“Their ecosystem is there that will again be directly affected by the Gotion company coming in,” she said.

Dockery underscored her purpose for getting involved.

“I can only speak towards one that I'm passionate about and don't know enough about the political part,” she said.

“But I can advocate for these endangered species and that's what I'm trying to do.”

“My boys, they love fishing and they go fishing all the time in the spring and the summer in the fall. And if this water is acidic and it's treated and we don't know what the chemicals are that they're using to treat it, where are they going to go fishing?”

Dockery said her family did not get involved in the effort until the “No Gotion” parade was held.

“We started in the parade,” she said. “We had (our) boys with us. It's interesting because they understand that we're trying to save our town. They understand that we're trying to save the land, the fish, the water. My family loves fishing and the environmental part of it.”

Dockery is an award-winning teacher at Reavis Elementary School. In 2021 she was awarded EarthKind's inaugural Harmony Hero Award for her outstanding efforts in ecology education. Known as the "Monarch Lady" for her dedication to the Monarch butterfly and ecological sustainability, Dockery's EARTH (Ecology, Awareness, Research, Technology, and Horticulture) program at Reavis Elementary earned her this national recognition.

The Chicago Tribune has characterized the opposition to the Gotion plant as coming from "far-right legislators." "That has provided an opening for far-right Republicans, struggling for relevancy in a blue state," Jeremy Gorner and Rick Pearson said.

The Tribune echoed comments made on the matter by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who authorize over $500 million in tax subsidies for the plant. Mark Glennon noted name-calling in Wirepoints. "Gotion unquestionably is tied deeply to the Chinese Communist Party... Rubio is hardly a MAGA Republican... However, opposition to Gotion projects isn’t limited to the CCP connection... Democrats and Republicans alike no doubt share those concerns," Mark Glennon wrote according to Madison-St Clair Record.