MARSHALL, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Work on Ford’s $3.5 billion dollar BlueOval Battery Plant outside the city of Marshall will continue for now.
A visiting judge to Calhoun County Circuit Court who heard arguments on Wednesday, July 12 over development of the plant said he could not make a final decision right away whether to grant a request to halt work on the site and would need another five days to evaluate the request.
A group known as the Committee to Save Marshall, Not the Megasite, is suing the city, arguing Marshall isn’t considering the community’s concerns when it comes to the megasite.
The lawsuit states the group is against bulldozing the former farm land, but lawyers for the City of Marshall are in support of the project moving forward. The group previously delivered a petition to city hall opposing the rezoning, which failed due to the lack of signatures.
According to a legal review initiated by the Marshall City Clerk, the group claimed it submitted more than 800 signatures as part of its voting effort, but only 136 of them were valid.
Ford Company officials say the plant would initially employ 2,500 people in the Marshall area and produce lithium-ion batteries to power around 400,000 future Ford Electric Vehicles per year.
City council members voted to rezone the land for industrial use in May, giving Ford the go-ahead for the BlueOval Battery Plant.
Construction on the factory is set to begin at the end of summer.
