Lawmaker: LG Chem debacle Obama's fault

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - A prominent federal lawmaker is placing responsibility for misspent federal dollars at LG Chem's Holland plant on the president.

On Wednesday, it was announced that LG Chem had repaid about $842,000 in taxpayer dollars that it admitted it had misspent.

In a Wall Street Journal report on an audit of the plant, Congressman Lamar Smith (R-Texas), chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, called the LG Chem case an "outrage" and blamed Pres. Barack Obama.

"The president," he told the Journal, "wants more money to fund more pet projects, but it is clear that his administration hasn't been responsible with what they've already been given."

Obama led the 2010 groundbreaking for the federally-funded plant designed to manufacture lithium-ion batteries for electric cars -- specifically the Chevrolet Volt -- and he touted it as the future of Michigan and clean energy.

The audit was prompted by an October 2012 Target 8 investigation that revealed workers with little else to do spent time playing cards and board games, watching movies or volunteering at local non-profits.

A federal audit criticized the Department of Energy for poor oversight. It questioned why the feds gave LG Chem $151 million without a written promise to shift battery production to Michigan from South Korea.

It also questioned why LG Chem spent 94% of the grant and built just 60% of its production lines and whether the feds should have cut off the money when it appeared LG Chem was struggling.

The office of southwest Michigan Congressman Fred Upton, chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, is expected to provide a statement to Target 8 on the issue soon.

Target 8 also reached out to US Sen. Debbie Stabenow for her response to the audit, but did not hear back from her office.