At the end of a two-hour meeting Monday night, the Mead, NE, Planning Commission put off a decision on what to do about AltEn's conditional use permit, reports the Lincoln Journal-Star.
Since February, the plant has been shut down after the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy ordered AltEn to stop pumping wastewater into its overfilled lagoon system. The company recently laid off all but three of its employees. AltEn used pesticide-treated seeds to produce fuel rather than harvested grain, leaving behind contaminated byproducts.
AltEn asked the commission to suspend the conditional use permit rather than revoking it outright, which would allow the AltEn — or a third party — to continue cleanup of the site.
Despite an overwhelming majority of those who spoke at the public meeting favoring revocation, Mead's Planning Commission will sit on the decision for several weeks, electing to reconvene at the community center on May 19.
Read the full report here.
