CHRIS DUNKER
Lincoln Journal Star
MEAD â At the end of a two-hour meeting Monday night, the Mead Planning Commission put off a decision on what to do about AltEn s conditional use permit.
Unlike most other ethanol plants in the state and across the country, AltEn used pesticide-treated seeds to produce fuel rather than harvested grain, leaving behind contaminated byproducts pointed to as being harmful to pollinators, animals and people.
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.