LINCOLN - A troubled ethanol plant in Mead, Nebraska, had state approval to use seed corn treated with harmful pesticides years before state regulators raised concerns.

Recently discovered state documents indicate that Nebraska environmental regulators approved the use of seed corn by the troubled AltEn ethanol plant back on July 26, 2012.

The state's lawsuit against AltEn claims state regulators were unaware the corn used in the plant had been coated with chemicals and that, even if they had, they were not aware of the chemical's danger until 2018.

As more information got uncovered, it was found that state regulators didn't deem the use of treated seed corn as important enough to merit a public hearing because it was a "minor" change. The news spurred an increase in calls Tuesday, January 8 for a special investigation by the Nebraska legislature of the facility and its impact on public health and the environment.

"We need to get to the bottom of this," said Al Davis, a former state senator and a representative of the Sierra Club of Nebraska.

State Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue said that referring to using pesticide-coated seed corn as a "minor" change demonstrates a lack of understanding and concern by the state. Blood introduced the proposal to conduct the legislative investigation.

A nearby resident of the AltEn plant, Jody Weible, said the revelation was one more frustration about AltEn, which currently retains 80,000 tons of contaminated waste corn on its south side of Mead.

“I’m surprised they got permission and didn’t let us know,” said Weible, who formerly served on the planning board that initially approved the AltEn facility.

Despite the shock from the news, a spokesman for the Nebraska Attorney General's Office said Tuesday that there was nothing inaccurate about the state's lawsuit against AltEn and that use of chemically treated seed corn for ethanol had been permitted, as long as it wasn't fed to livestock after being used to produce alcohol.

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