The MEDC needs to be disbanded

[MWmetalhead]

This highly corrupt organization has been giving sweetheart deals, at times under false pretense, to politically connected individuals for years.

The majority of its board members are handpicked by the Governor.

Gee - what a shock that an organization run by big Whitmer donor, Fay Beydoun, received a $20 million grant. No one really seems to know what her organization does by way of economic development to deserve such money. This gargoyle of a woman spent $4500 of those funds on a coffee maker and $408,000 on three months of salary for just two (!!!) employees.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/ ... 372156007/

The AG's office needs to file suit to attempt to recoup the $20 million Beydoun's organization, Global Link International, received.

[TC Talks]

Half of Detroit was rebuilt with EDC funds. I was on a project that received 15 million. It's actually a positive force in rebuilding our economy.

They also attract epic projects like the battery plants that have been popping up recently.

If you recall, Snyder's Executive Director, Steve Arwood resigned after some irregularities, and under Whitmers administration, it's watched closely.

This was a grant recipient who got caught. There is nothing wrong with the organization.

[MWmetalhead]

Nothing wrong w/ the organization? How the hell was the $20 million in question ever approved?

To which battery plants are you referring? Marshall and Big Rapids? I wrote here months ago regarding the economic absurdity of the subsidies the Marshall plant was seeking.

[TC Talks]

Nothing wrong w/ the organization? How the hell was the $20 million in question ever approved?

To which battery plants are you referring?

The 20 million dollar grant was announced and this woman won the grant. There is a ton of opportunities available, but you have to actually deliver.

Battery plant program:
https://www.michigan.gov/whitmer/news/p ... ufacturing

https://www.michigan.gov/whitmer/news/p ... big-rapids

[MWmetalhead]

No, you don't have to "actually deliver."

Also, in some cases, economics are tilted absurdly in favor of the grant / subsidy recipient.

That's why the MEDC process is a joke.

The press releases to which you linked are misleading. Ford's "investment" in Marshall is conditioned upon receiving over a billion in financial support from the state. I believe the number is $1.6 or $1.7 billion.

Gotion, which is partially owned by an offshoot of the CCP, wants $800 million in incentives.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/ ... 134419007/

Why are we giving state incentives to destroy forested land or agricultural land to build manufacturing plants that produce toxic batteries when there are a ton of vacant brownfield sites that are already zoned for heavy manufacturing use?

[TC Talks]

Jobs in one of the most poverty stricken countries in the state?

I do agree they could have used Wolverine World Wide's former plant site. But brownfield site development is complex.

[MWmetalhead]

Unfortunately, the meth head hillbillies won't suddenly change their behavior or lifestyle simply because a new manufacturing plant opens, sad to say.

[km1125]

Jobs in one of the most poverty stricken countries in the state?

I do agree they could have used Wolverine World Wide's former plant site. But brownfield site development is complex.

Just who makes it that complex?

[TC Talks]

Jobs in one of the most poverty stricken countries in the state?

I do agree they could have used Wolverine World Wide's former plant site. But brownfield site development is complex.

Just who makes it that complex?

PFAS isn't a who. Brownfield sites come with problems.

[km1125]

Jobs in one of the most poverty stricken countries in the state?

I do agree they could have used Wolverine World Wide's former plant site. But brownfield site development is complex.

Just who makes it that complex?

PFAS isn't a who. Brownfield sites come with problems.

Ooooo... scary PFAS. They could probably use a lot of brownfield sites as-is, with little risk to the environment. Cap the existing soil with concrete (for the floor of the building) or asphalt for the parking lot and seal in anything in the soil so it doesn't leech into the rest of the environment. OR we could let that site sit and absorb rainwater for decades (while it leeches into the environment anything that was left in the soil) and then spend millions and millions of dollars digging it up and treating the soil before it can be reused.

[TC Talks]

So you are a researcher on carcinogens? Cause you just seem like an old dude with some b.s. opinions with nothing to back them up.

I don't know any corporation that would accept that liability.

[Matt]

So you are a researcher on carcinogens? Cause you just seem like an old dude with some b.s. opinions with nothing to back them up.

I don't know any corporation that would accept that liability.

Remember when Limbaugh would brag about his nicotine stained hands? Whatever happened to him?

[MWmetalhead]

A properly prepared Baseline Environmental Assessment could shield a successor owner from liability associated with preexisting environmental hazards.

There are shopping centers, ski hills and even subdivisions built on former landfill sites.

I believe the LG Chem battery plant in Holland was built on a brownfield.

[TC Talks]

A properly prepared Baseline Environmental Assessment could shield a successor owner from liability associated with preexisting environmental hazards.

There are shopping centers, ski hills and even subdivisions built on former landfill sites.

I believe the LG Chem battery plant in Holland was built on a brownfield.

Partly true, just establishing the issue does not completely absolve the current property owner from past issues. Brownfield trusts are designed to manage residual clean up, but I am aware of two developers who ended up paying millions when the I and II Environmental Assessments missed issues that surfaced during construction. There is always a greater risk using brownfield property, and in the case of Big Rapids, there remain unresolved issues at the former Wolverine WW tanning plant.

[MWmetalhead]

You are certainly correct that a risk exists that the environmental consultants will miss issues (recognized environmental conditions) during phase I and phase II assessments that could bite a property owner in the ass later.

I suspect the number of borings performed and soil samples collected on a known brownfield are far more extensive in number than those collected from an "ordinary" site.

Indeed, building on the former WWW site may not be a good idea. There are a number of other large former industrial sites that are currently unoccupied, mostly in urban areas.