State lawmakers were urged Wednesday to quickly advance and pass a bill that would force an ethanol plant near Mead, NE, to stop using pesticide-treated seed corn to produce fuel, reports the Omaha World-Herald.
Nearby residents have been complaining since 2018, without resolution, about adverse health effects and potential groundwater contamination from tens of thousands of tons of pesticide-laden corn waste after the ethanol process at the AltEn plant, a state legislative committee was told.
The AltEn plant has been given a deadline of March 1 by state regulators to remove the grain piles at their plant.
State Sen. Bruce Bostelman of Brainard, who introduced Legislative Bill 507 to force some action, said the company has two options: find a licensed landfill that will take the leftover grain, or incinerate it.