Contractors: LG Chem owes about $250K

ALLEGAN, Mich. (WOOD) - Three contractors for the troubled LG Chem Michigan lithium-ion car battery plant in Holland have filed liens against the company, claiming it owes them a total of more than $250,000, according to the Allegan County officials.

Johnson Control, Andy J. Egan Co., and Circuit Electric Inc. filed the liens -- claims to settle a debt -- with the Allegan County Register of Deeds office in the fall.

Records show that Andy J. Egan Co., a construction contractor, originally was owed nearly $1.4 million by LG Chem, but that the debt had been reduced to $142,199 when the lien was filed in November 2011.

Circuit Electric originally was owed more than $1.9 million, but that was reduced to nearly $108,000, records show.

Records show LG Chem still owes Johnson Controls $14,600 of the original $302,000 amount.

Federal records show Andy J. Egan Co. received nearly $445,000 in federal stimulus funds for its work at the plant, while Circuit Electric got $818,203. 

That came from the $151 million Department of Energy grant that LG Chem used to help build the plant. So far, it has spent $142 million of that.

The liens were filed not long after Target 8 was revealed that workers at the plant, with little else to do, were playing cards and board games, watching movies, or volunteering at area non-profits.

That investigation led to a federal audit, forcing LG Chem to repay the federal government $842,000.