The troubled AltEn ethanol plant in Mead, NE, was awarded more than $200,000 in COVID-19 relief money last year from Nebraska, even as state regulators cited it for ongoing environmental violations.
The state filed suit against AltEn on March 1 over allegations of environmental contamination and violations of state law.
The plant was awarded $210,084 by the Nebraska Department of Economic Development on Nov. 25 through its federally funded COVID Relief Fund. Complaints by neighbors about health problems date to at least 2018, and citations by state environmental regulators go back earlier.
AltEn’s grant was one part of the $1.25 billion Nebraska has received from the federal government for its COVID Relief Fund. In total, the state awarded $14 million in COVID funds to 23 ethanol plants.
