Judge rebuffs citizen lawsuit against Gotion plant but leaves door open

A judge in Kankakee, Ill., ruled against a citizens group that is fighting to stop the opening of an electric-vehicle battery plant in Manteno but left the door open for the lawsuit to continue.

Chinese battery maker Gotion announced a year ago that it would convert a vacant Kmart distribution center into a $2 billion factory that would eventually employ 2,600 people. It was a signature victory in Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s plan to put Illinois at the center of the move to electric vehicles.

But the plant immediately sparked opposition from some residents and politicians, including former Lt. Gov. Jeanne Ives, who questioned whether Gotion has ties to the Communist Party of China. A similar backlash occurred over the company’s plan to build a factory in Big Rapids, Mich., near Grand Rapids.

After the plant was approved by the Manteno Village Board, a group called Concerned Citizens of Manteno filed the lawsuit. Among other things, the group claims the village violated its own rules in allowing the project, says the plant will use toxic chemicals that are not allowed under local zoning provisions and worries that truck traffic will cause health problems to residents and decrease the value of nearby homes.

Kankakee Circuit Judge Lindsay Parkhurst ruled in favor of the village to dismiss several counts because the suit, as she put it, is convoluted and “reads like a novel or a thesis” that did not properly state claims with specific facts showing violations of law or injury by plaintiffs.

Nonetheless, she allowed the group to refile its suit within 45 days because, on several counts, she could not find there wasn’t a potential set of facts upon which they could be successful.

Parkhurst, however, warned the group’s attorneys, “if I get another complaint like the one I got, it’s going to be dismissed.”

Village attorney Joe Cainkar said he was happy with the ruling: “On the law, we think we’re right.”

Robby Dube, of Minneapolis law firm Eckland & Blando, which also filed suit against the Gotion project in Big Rapids, said he intends to refile the complaint in Kankakee, Ill.

“We feel very good about what happened here,” he said. "We feel we can meet that burden [laid out by the judge].”

About two dozen members of the citizens’ group attended the hearing. It’s the latest twist in a saga that has been filled with more drama than expected.

Gotion, meanwhile, continues work to convert the former Kmart distribution center into a battery-assembly plant. The company initially had hoped to begin production within a year, an admittedly ambitious goal on such a large project. But it has encountered delays in zoning and obtaining the right of way for power transmission lines.