By Aaron Sanderford, Nebraska Examiner

MEAD, Neb. (Nebraska Examiner) -- Years of private efforts to clean up wet cake pollution from a Nebraska ethanol plant that turned pesticide-coated seed corn into fuel inched in recent weeks toward resolution.

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen on Tuesday visited with Mead residents to tout the state's progress in working with six seed companies now running the former AltEn ethanol plant's cleanup, the AltEn Facility Response Group.

As DTN reported in the past, AltEn once accepted unsold treated seeds from major companies but began stockpiling the contaminated wet cake onsite after it was considered unfit for livestock feed or as a soil conditioner. The wet cake and ponds filled with pesticide-contaminated water on the site combined to create an environmental disaster for neighboring residents.

The owners of AltEn walked away from the responsibility of cleaning up the ethanol-plant site and were sued by major seed companies that spent more than $28 million cleaning up the facility.

Pillen told locals who have fought for state attention that he is proud of the work that removed a roughly 165,000-ton "mountain" of mixed material that included about 84,000 tons of contaminated byproduct. Work continues to clear polluted lagoons and groundwater.

Nebraska tried regulating AltEn into compliance but eventually shut it down in February 2021, filing a separate state-led lawsuit that year against the plant that is still being negotiated for settlement. A wastewater spill followed days later. Seed companies that had been working with the company took over cleanup.

Essentially, the company running AltEn had thought it could burn the seeds hot enough to leave no trace of the pesticides in the waste byproduct of fuel production, but tests found neonicotinoid levels too high.

Jesse Bradley, the director of the state's water and environmental regulator, said much work remains to be done but that the state would continue to focus its work on safety for nearby residents of Mead.

The state says its next steps include remedial action plans and agreements for addressing remaining contaminated groundwater, solids in the lagoon pits and other soil that needs fixing.

Those steps, plus last month's settlement of a separate federal lawsuit between agricultural chemical producers and the former plant and its overseers, could help resolve a separate state lawsuit that has been paused for settlement negotiations in Saunders County District Court.

The lawsuit, from the Nebraska Attorney General's Office, accuses AltEn of using and improperly disposing of pesticide-treated seed corn, not ordinary field corn as its permit described, and alleges improper byproduct storage and disposal.

Settlement details might not be disclosed, but court documents hint that the AltEn property's current and future owners will have to accept restrictive environmental rules on the land and groundwater.

The Department of Water, Energy and Environment, the state's water and environmental regulator, uses such regulatory tools to reduce the health risks of pollution to people and animals.

Part of the deal means that the state maintains access to check samples of the property's land and water for contamination levels and monitor for problems that could affect water used for agriculture.

The deal placed limitations on the industrial property's future use. Among them: restrictions that won't let the land, even after remediation wraps up, be used for homes, schools or child care facilities.

Saunders County Board member Bill Reece, a member of the Mead group working with the state and seed companies on the cleanup effort, praised local resilience. Neighbors faced chemical smells, sores and more.

"They know their town is worth standing up for, and we're glad to see the progress that has been made at AltEn," he said. He credited the state and seed companies for keeping Mead residents in the loop.

The governor, who owns a hog operation based in Columbus, said cleanup of the AltEn site was among his "top" priorities since becoming governor in 2023. He is Nebraska's first farmer-governor in more than a century.

"I'm proud of the fact that when we got involved, a lot of people rolled up their sleeves and collaborated to fix this problem," Pillen said. He stressed that the cleanup is privately funded.

Also see "Seed Companies, Defunct Ethanol Plant Reach Settlement in Ongoing Lawsuits" here: https://www.dtnpf.com/….

DTN Ag Policy Editor Chris Clayton contributed to this report.

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