By Jeff Vorva
Those who oppose the China-based Gotion battery plant near Manteno may be pumping their fists high in the air about Donald Trump winning the November 5 presidential election.
A day before the election, resident Francine Fatima was cocksure that Trump was going to win when she addressed the Manteno Village Board.
“With the new regime and administration in our country, it is my hope…my hope…that Gotion is gone.”
She was right about the new regime getting voted in and her Concerned Citizens of Manteno group is basking in the fact that Trump shares its views on the Chinese-based company.
A Gotion plant also is planned in Michigan and, in October, Trump posted a scathing message to truthsocial.com that included capital letters to emphasize his point.
“I AM 100 percent OPPOSED!” he wrote about the Gotion plant in Michigan.
He added the EV battery plant would “put Michiganders under the thumb of the Chinese Communist Party. The Gotion plant would be very bad for the state and our country.”
Before the people of the Manteno area get too giddy, it needs to be pointed out Politico.com reported Gotion forked over close to $1 million to a lobbying firm co-run by Trump’s campaign manager – Susie Wiles. Wiles, however, said she had not been working for the firm since Trump’s campaign started.
In August, Trump’s running mate, J.D. Vance, visited Big Rapids, Michigan, which was close to 20 miles away from the proposed plant.
“Kamala Harris not only wants to allow the Chinese Communist Party to build factories on American soil, she wants to pay them to do it with our tax money,” Vance said. “Democrats are helping China to destroy and replace our auto industry from the inside out.”
In light of a lithium battery plant that blew up in Missouri on October 30 and causing pollution, health concerns, and evacuations, thousands of dead fish were washed up near the site of the plant, but the fire was not officially named as the cause of that.
Manteno resident Sandy Chiz relayed to the board her fears a similar disaster could happen with the Gotion plant.
“That battery factory (in Missouri) was smaller than the one planned for here,” Chiz said
She said chemicals that will be stored at the factory could cause problems.
“What happens when it leaks?” she asked. “What happens if it catches on fire? What if it leaks into the water or leaks into the soil? What about all of those solids and toxins? What happens then?”
Chiz also tried shaming the board about “running away from this.”
Mayor Tim Nugent, who was absent from the meeting, will not run for the top job in the April election, according to reports, nor will a few of the trustees.
“When this company explodes or contaminates our area, you will be blamed even if you are not there,” Chiz said. “And your families who are still here will take the brunt of it. You can’t escape this. This is all of your family legacies now.”