Removal of contaminated waste to resume at AltEn near Mead

June 17, 2024, 11 a.m. ·

The AltEn plant in Mead, Nebraska with a dirt road in the foreground.
The AltEn ethanol plant opened in Mead, Nebraska in 2015 and closed in February of 2021. (Nebraska Public Media News file photo)

The AltEn Facility Response Group will resume the removal of contaminated waste from the abandoned AltEn site in Mead in the coming weeks after efforts were paused during the winter months.

The Facility Response Group (FRG) is managing the safe remediation of “wet cake,” waste grain produced by the ethanol distilling process, at the AltEn site. The FRG was formed to address the unsafe conditions created by AltEn’s mismanagement of solids and water generated by the ethanol production process and is participating in the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy’s (NDEE) Voluntary Cleanup Program to stabilize the site.

NewFields was hired to lead cleanup efforts to dispose of the 115,000 tons of pesticide-contaminated wet cake.

Mobilization at the site has started, and wet cake solidification and transportation to Pheasant Point Landfill in Bennington is expected to start as part of the Wet Cake Pilot Project, which paused in November due to colder temperatures. Other AltEn site activities continued through the winter, including water treatment, standard groundwater testing and treated seed removal.

“After gaining momentum last fall, the FRG is ready to resume the wet cake pilot project,” NewFields Senior Engineer Bill Butler said in a press release. “We continue to make progress cutting deeper into the wet cake pile. Our top priority is transporting the wet cake off-site to Pheasant Point landfill in the safest and most efficient way.”

The pilot project was designed to test the feasibility of solidifying wet cake and safely disposing it at the landfill. More than 10,000 tons of solidified wet cake, amounting to 515 truckloads, were transported to the landfill last October and November. In addition, the FRG identified best practices for the wet cake removal this summer, the press release stated. Trucks have been moving other materials, including liners from one of the site’s three water lagoons, to the landfill.

After the pilot project is concluded, the FRG will analyze the data to recommend a preferred approach to removing the remaining wet cake and will share its conclusions and recommendation with NDEE and the community.