‘Moved mountains': Gov. Pillen shares updates on ethanol plant that polluted a Nebraska town

Residents of Mead gathered Tuesday to hear an update on the ethanol plant that polluted their rural town.

“I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say we’ve moved mountains," Gov. Jim Pillen told community members inside the Encounter Life Ministries Church on County Road 10.

Just down the dirt road, a facility called AltEn spent years in the business of turning pesticide-coated seeds into ethanol. The method created 85,000 tons of contaminated byproducts that polluted the neighboring village of Mead and spurred widespread fear for the health and safety of thousands of people.

It took a lawsuit, public outrage and dozens of violations before the plant was shut down in 2021. In August, the final truckload of solid waste known as “wet cake” was hauled off the AltEn property. Work is still underway to clean three lagoons on the site that hold millions of gallons of contaminated water.

Pillen said cleanup of the site was a priority for his team when he became governor in 2023.

“I’m a believer in getting government out of our hair,” Pillen said. “We can’t create more laws to keep this from happening. What we have to do a better job of is have accountability in government. When something isn’t happening we have to know, we have to hear and then we have to come together and address it.”

Pesticide coated seeds

AltEn’s woes began with an innovative idea. The nation’s largest seed companies had a massive surplus of unsold seeds. AltEn had the means to cheaply turn those seeds into ethanol. Around 2013, a deal was struck.

AltEn reportedly assured the seed companies and the state that the facility would follow proper protocol in disposing of the byproduct created by the pesticide-coated seeds. Instead, the solid waste piled up and began to rot.

Those living near the plant began to notice an acidic, sour smell in the air around AltEn. Jody Weible’s home sits about a mile from the plant. She began to develop sores in her mouth.

She knew of friends and neighbors who would experience headaches, nausea and bloody noses. Her dog developed an itching allergy and nearby bee colonies were dying. There was nothing a doctor could point to as the cause. Both her physician and vet said the ailments appeared to be environmental allergic reactions.

“I couldn’t hang clothes out on my clothes lines for five or six years, I couldn’t do yard work because you never knew if you were going to be able to breathe,” Weible said Tuesday.

State regulators issued AltEn dozens of violations over the course of just a few years, but business kept rolling.

AltEn’s waste, or wet cake, was sold to farmers as field fertilizer until 2019, when it was found to be contaminated with levels of pesticides, specifically neonicotinoids, far above the legal limit.

A 97-page lawsuit filed by the state of Nebraska in March 2021 alleged that AltEn ignored orders to properly dispose of the waste.

Four days after an order was issued from the state to fully cease operations, a frozen pipe spilled millions of gallons of wastewater onto local properties and into waterways.

Months later, the seed companies that once supplied AltEn stepped in to lead the cleanup of the site. The effort has taken more than two years and millions of dollars, but no taxpayer dollars, Pillen noted. The seed companies have footed the bill.

Jesse Bradley, director of the Department of Water, Energy and Environment said work on the site will continue in 2026.

“We’ll continue to move forward,” Bradley said. “Make sustained progress while ensuring everything we do is protective of the Mead community and surrounding environment.”