‘There’s a Red Flag Here’: How an Ethanol Plant Is Dangerously Polluting a US Village

January 11, 2021

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by Carey Gillam (The Guardian) ... But unlike most of the other 203 US ethanol plants, AltEn has been using seed coated with fungicides and insecticides, including those known as neonicotinoids, or “neonics”, in its production process.

Company officials have advertised AltEn as a “recycling” location where agricultural companies can rid themselves of excess supplies of pesticide-treated seeds, a strategy that gave AltEn free supplies for its ethanol, but also left it with a waste product too pesticide-laden to feed to animals.

Instead, AltEn has been accumulating thousands of pounds of a smelly, lime-green mash of fermented grains, distributing some to farm fields as a “soil conditioner” and accumulating the rest on the grounds of its plant.

It is that waste that some researchers say is dangerously polluting water and soil and probably also posing a health threat to animals and people. They point to testing ordered by state officials that found neonics in AltEn waste at levels many times higher than what is considered safe.

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State officials have cited the plant for “non-compliance” of various rules designed to prevent pollution, and said in the October letter that they were worried that AltEn was not properly disposing of the waste and noted the possibility of contamination of “short-term and longer-term surface water and groundwater”.

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After fielding multiple complaints, the Nebraska department of agriculture ordered AltEn to stop distributing its waste to farm fields. But that has meant that more and more has been piling up on site at the ethanol facility or washed into its lagoons. AltEn has also started incinerating some of the waste and storing “biochar” in bags outside on plant property, a practice that further worries area residents.

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The European Union banned the outdoor use of neonics clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam in 2018, and the United Nations says neonics are so hazardous that they should be “severely” restricted. But in the US, neonics are widely used. READ MORE

TOPICAL ALERT: Mead residents say ethanol plant is spreading 'poison' and making them sick (Omaha World-Herald)

Senator seeks to address complaints about ethanol plant near Mead (Omaha World-Herald)

Editorial: State must draw key lessons in wake of Mead ethanol plant's environmental concerns (Omaha World-Herald)

Bill would force ethanol plant near Mead to stop using pesticide-treated seed corn (Omaha World-Herald)

Ethanol plant near Mead ordered to shut down (Norfolk Daily News/Omaha World-Herald)

'A dump for seed corn companies' — Mead residents worry what comes next for troubled ethanol plant (Journal Star)

'A dump for seed corn companies' — Mead residents worry what comes next for troubled ethanol plant (Hastings Tribune)

Discharge mitigation plans received by Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy (NTV ABC)

Editorial, 2/21: As senators act, ethanol plant needs to stay closed (Lincoln Journal Star)

Senators seek answers on Mead ethanol leak (KETV; includes VIDEO)

'A big crisis in our state' — Bill to ban ethanol companies from using treated seed advances (The Neighbor; includes VIDEO)

COLUMN: AltEn: The mess gets even messier (The Courier)

NU, Creighton researchers preparing for 'unprecedented' study of contamination from AltEn (York News-Times; includes VIDEO)

Nebraska and EPA Look for Solution -- Seed Companies Step Into Ethanol Plant Contamination Caused by Treated Corn Seeds (DTN Progressive Farmer)

Midlands Voices: AltEn is just one example of ill-considered biofuel subsidies (Omaha World-Herald)

Treated seed in ethanol production banned (Unicameral Update)

Special committee proposed to study AltEn, environmental regulations (Lincoln Journal Star)

Nebraska and EPA Look for Solution: Seed Companies Step Into Ethanol Plant Contamination Caused by Treated Corn Seeds (DTN Progressive Farmer)

Mead Seeks Answers on Plant Cleanup:Village Commission Votes to Revoke AltEn Permit to Produce Ethanol (DTN Progressive Farmer)

Town in Nebraska works to block ethanol production over "cleanliness" concerns (RFD TV; includes VIDEO)

Mead Ethanol Plant Cleanup Ongoing: A Look Inside Seed Companies' Battle to Clean Up Contaminated Ethanol Plant (DTN Progressive Farmer)

Mead board revokes AltEn's permit; cleanup efforts continue at ethanol plant (Grant Island Independent/Lincoln Journal/Star)

AltEn ethanol plant loses conditional use permit after unanimous vote (MSN/1011 Now)

Seed Companies Volunteer to Clean Up Mead -- Companies May Be at Nebraska Plant Conducting Cleanup For at Least 2 Years (DTN Progressive Farmer)

Senator seeking $20M to help Mead's recovery during, after AltEn cleanup (KPVI)

Researchers seeking clues in nature to track Mead ethanol plant's trauma (Lincoln Journal Star)

Watch Now: Journal Star documentary details Mead's fight against a toxic ethanol plant (Eastern Progress; includes VIDEO)

State approved the use of pesticide-coated seed corn for ethanol plant a decade ago -- Critics of slow cleanup at AltEn plant express surprise that it was called a ‘minor’ change (Nebraska Examiner)

Seed Corn Companies Sue Troubled AltEn Ethanol Plant (Omaha Daily Record)

Excerpt from York News-Times: Researchers from the University of Nebraska and Creighton University will study the long-term effects pesticides have had on the environment, agriculture and humans living near the AltEn ethanol plant south of Mead.

Experts across several disciplines — including public health, entomology, environmental engineering, chemistry, natural resources and geography — will sample for lingering neonicotinoids, a class of pesticides commonly used in seed coatings.

Unlike most ethanol plants, which use harvested grain to produce ethanol, AltEn solicited and used discard treated seed to manufacture the fuel.

The solid and liquid byproducts of that process were discovered to be heavily contaminated with pesticides believed to be responsible for the collapse of dozens of bee colonies, the death of wildlife, and for making pets and humans sick.

Excerpt from Lincoln Journal-Star: Ultimately, AltEn, a biofuel plant just north of the research farm, was identified as the reason bees were dying en masse.

While it was in operation, AltEn was processing between 500,000 and 900,000 pounds of pesticide-treated seed into ethanol every day, creating hazardous solid and liquid byproducts that were spread on farm fields for miles.

The Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy ordered the plant to shut down in February following years of violations of the state's environmental regulations. Now, attention has turned to determining how far the pesticide contamination spread — and at what level.

The University of Nebraska and Creighton University have launched a massive study to monitor the plant's effects on the environment, wildlife and humans over the next decade, a project that could cost $10 million.

Judy Wu-Smart, an assistant professor of entomology at UNL, said harnessing honey bees’ natural instincts to find food sources will be the starting point for a massive environmental study that is taking place in and around Mead.

“We always talk about bees being canaries in the coal mine, but nobody has ever tried to use them as a method of identifying hot spots,” she said. “We know (the pesticides) are all over. We’re trying to find out where and at what level.” READ MORE