ENDWELL, NY (WSKG) — After years of back and forth with officials and activists, SungEel MCC Americas confirmed it would no longer pursue plans to establish a lithiom-ion battery recycling facility in the Village of Endicott.
In February, the Endicott Board of Trustees repealed a local law it had passed last year that would’ve allowed SungEel to set up shop on the Huron Campus. SungEel’s statement Monday acknowledged the company would completely abandon the project citing what it called a “divisive local political climate.”
“It is unfortunate that a tumultuous election year resulted in political rhetoric that spread misinformation throughout the community; a community that, now more than ever, needs the investment and job opportunities that companies like SMCC are prepared to provide,” President of SungEel MCC Americas Danish Mir wrote in the press release.
No Burn Broome, an activist group, took issue with the project and had lobbied the village board to stop it. After three years, the group’s website now bears the heading “we won.”
Last year’s election saw the ousting of 20-year trustee Cheryl Chapman in favor of Nicholas Burlingame who opposed the project. Burlingame and incumbent Patrick Dorner, both Republicans, ran on opposing the SungEel project. With Burlingame’s election, support for the project by the five-person board shifted, resulting in the repeal of the recycling law in February.
Endicott Mayor Linda Jackson did not immediately return a request for comment Monday.