The Marshall CATL-Ford Blue Oval Megasite
Residents of the beautiful, historic Marshall farming community fight for their neighborhoods, their land and water, and for the peace and security of their community.
Why are Marshall residents so concerned about the Megasite
An historic, riverside agricultural community destroyed to build a "battery park"
Geological experts have confirmed that Marshall, Michigan enjoys some of the most fertile farmland in the nation–with extremely high permeability. Yet the corrupt officials from Marshall Area Economic Development Alliance (MAEDA) and the City of Marshall have decided that the three miles north of the Kalamazoo River, just west of the quaint historic village of Marshall, is an ideal location for an EV battery manufacturing megasite.
The site has already destroyed historic farmsteads, 100+ year old trees, and habitat for federally protected species–and more destruction is rapidly underway.
While the Marshall Megasite has been sold to the public as a Ford plant, "Ford Blue Oval" is in fact a subsidiary of the Chinese-owned company Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. LTD (CATL). The company's ties to the Chinese Communist Party, and the tax loopholes demonstrated by the company's contract have drawn deep concern from residents and legislators alike.
Project snapshot
- Up to 3,000 acres of prime, in-use farmland, wetlands, and forest
- along 3 miles of the Kalamazoo River
- 23 homes demolished, including several built early 1800s
- 5 historic barns, 6 businesses & a fire department demolished
- zero public meetings about the megasite
- CATL's Chinese ownership has alarmed legislators
aka Ford's "Blue Oval" CATL venture
Environmental Impact of Marshall Megasite
100+ year old farmhouses and barns bulldozed; ancient trees hewn down; federally protected bat habitats destroyed; the best agricultural land in the state pushed around by heavy equipment to demoralize local residents.
Federally & State Protected Species Habitats Destroyed
Federally Protected
- Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis)
- Northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis)
- Eastern massasauga (rattlesnake) (Sistrurus catenatus)
- Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus)
State Protected
- Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
- Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus)
- Lesser yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)
- Red-headed woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus)
- Rusty blackbird (Euphagus carolinus)
- Wood thrush (Hylocichla mustelina)
What happened to the habitats?
Despite the fact that Michigan Department of Agricultural and Rural Development (MDARD) had placed several nesting boxes for endangered bats within the CATL megasite, and despite the fact that MAEDA's retained environmental consultant Burns and McDonnell found several federally and state protected species within 1.5 miles of the site, in winter of 2022 MAEDA cut down the 100+ year old trees and habitats where bats had been nesting. EGLE had not yet performed their site inspection for bats.
EV Battery Manufacturing Materials & Impacts
Known Materials in EV Battery Manufacturing
- Lithium carbonate, “may be a teratogen,” and is on the Right to Know Hazardous Substance List and Special Hazardous Health Substance List
- Primary synthetic graphite, which “is considered hazardous according to OSHA”
- Iron phosphate - “a strong oxidizing agent” which “should not be released into the environment”
- N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP), “May cause damage to organs through prolonged or repeated exposure”, “reproductive harm” Gotion says they will make LFP batteries, although materials used in more dangerous NMC batteries have been cited by Gotion rep as being needed–such as cobalt, manganese, and nickel
- Lithium fields and rare earth leeching are devastating to the environment, putting large amounts of chemicals into the earth; it's also tied to slave labor. Some critical EV mineral supply chains have been linked with terrorist organizations.
Known environmental impacts
- intake of 715,000+ gallons of water per day
- output of 65,000+ gallons of wastewater per day
- no environmental impact study (EIS) has been provided
- light pollution will disrupt migratory patterns of birds
- light pollution will block aurora borealis and night sky visibility
- some amount of lithium carbonate will enter the local ecosystem
- air quality will be polluted from the local highways and roads will experience a constant stream of freight trucks
News & Voices
ACTION: Public Input on MI Potash Wetlands permits DUE Dec. 29th
December 23, 2024|EGLE, EPA, grassroots action, mining operations, statewide, water, West Michigan
The Powers of Air and Darkness in Michigan are at it again this holiday season, with another big steaming turd of a present: public notice of a wetlands permit for MI Potash, with an insanely tight deadline of December 29th. Public notice was released December 10th.
MI Potash not only wants to suck up 3,000,000 gallons of water per day from Osceola County’s aquifers; now it wants to destroy wetlands to do it. Michigan water advocates have been quietly fighting this toxic “brine mining” operation for several years now. This application for a permit from EGLE and the EPA to destroy wetlands on the property is only the latest development in this project.
EGLE will hold a public hearing on this permit, but ONLY if they receive enough interest from the public.
Which is why it’s critical that the developer and EGLE receive public input and pushback at every step, and every permit.
PLEASE submit your public comment on this BEFORE THE DECEMBER 29TH DEADLINE.
Instructions, letter template, and more information are all below.
How to public comment
Online:
Using EGLE’s MIEnviro Portal here: https://mienviro.michigan.gov/ncore/external/publicnotice/info/610659450565808556/comments
By email:
By mail:
Sue Conradson
Cadillac District Office
EGLE, Water Resources Division
PO Box 30458
Lansing, MI 48909
What to comment
Be sure your comment includes the following information - ESPECIALLY the application number.
Application number: HQ5-K2QV-XPMK6
Permit type: NREPA 303 Wetlands
Applicant: Ted Pagano / MI Potash Co.
Location: Osceola County
In your comments, it’s critical to include a request for EGLE to hold a public hearing on this permit.
We also encourage you to include one or more of the following points:
- EPA has requested that EGLE “red-file” this project, meaning it will be under increased scrutiny and protections.
- Remind EGLE that public trust interest includes preservation of our rural character.
- This is piecemeal authorization of a “transformative” project, potentially impacting 16,000 acres of Osceola and Mecosta Counties.
- This project's structures and components are literally sited on dry islands amid a sea of interconnected wetlands.
- In no rational universe should the proposed activities be sited at this location.
Here’s a sample letter, which you’re welcome to use (although we encourage you to write it in your own words):
Dear EGLE Water Resources Division,
I’m writing to express my concern about the NREPA 303 wetlands permits for MI Potash Company in Osceola County, application number HQ5-K2QV-XPMK6.
This permit is for just one portion of a much larger project which could impact up to 16,000 acres across Osceola and Mecosta Counties. These impacts are relevant to this permit, and should be considered.
The structures this potash mining project proposes are planned to sit on top of islands of dry land within a basin of interconnected wetlands and streams. This is clearly an inappropriate place for this permit, and for this project at large.
I’m concerned about the lack of environmental impact reporting this developer has provided, both on this permit and on other permits related to the project. Considering this project has been red-filed by the EPA, it’s clear that EGLE must slow down and apply an added layer of scrutiny to this permit, and to this project.
I request that you hold a public hearing for this wetlands permit, and that you extend the deadline for public comment.
Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
EDRA of MI’s submitted statement
Dear EGLE Water Resources Division & Region 5 EPA,
We’re writing to address the NREPA 303 wetlands permits for MI Potash Company in Osceola County, application number HQ5-K2QV-XPMK6. As a statewide, nonpartisan grassroots lobbying organization, we represent Michigan residents across the state, including Mecosta and Osceola Counties.
First: we ask that you extend the December 29th deadline for public comment. Giving the public less than three weeks to respond, over the December holiday season no less, is clearly a bad faith gesture by EGLE staff to minimize public visibility on this highly controversial project.
Since the announcement of the USDA’s intention to give $80M to MI Potash Company for this project, it’s become even more clear that EGLE is under pressure from the federal administration to fast track and rubber stamp this project–just as EGLE has done in Marshall, and in many other projects backed by millions in taxpayer subsidies. Yet this profit-driven federal pressure does not absolve EGLE and its staff of the organization’s legal and moral obligations.
Second: we ask the EPA to hold a public hearing on this permit.
The facility proposed in this permit sits on a dry island amidst a network of wetlands and streams, and this facility belongs to a much larger, “transformative” project, which could impact up to 16,000 acres of Mecosta and Osceola habitat and watersheds. This is an absurd location for this project.
Furthermore: the EPA’s red-filing of this project underlines the need for extra care and due diligence. Red-filed projects are subject to EPA oversight, as outlined in Clean Water Act Section 404(b)(1) guidelines. As a project under federal oversight, the NEPA Act of 1969 requires this permit to mandate an environmental impact studies (EIS) report.
Public trust is a key factor which EGLE must, by law, consider in this permit, regardless of how economic developers have worked to downplay and ignore this factor over the last few years. The project proposed in this permit, and other permits for the mine, would fundamentally change the rural character, landscape, and agricultural economy of the region. These impacts, both economic and ecological, have been researched and considered by the developer and EGLE precisely nowhere.
It’s clear that more research is required in order for EGLE to make an informed decision about this permit. This should absolutely include a public hearing–potentially multiple public hearings. It should also include requiring the developer to provide thorough, third-party environmental and economic impact reports.
Thank you for your attention to these important matters.
Sincerely,
EDRA of MI
Permit documents & more info
EGLE’s criteria for red-file projects
Full wetlands delineation map
More info from MI Citizens for Water Conservation
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