MEAD, Neb (KMTV) — Nearly five years after pollution at an ethanol plant in Mead made national headlines, Gov. Jim Pillen visited the community to celebrate what he calls a community success story.
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"We've literally moved a mountain," Pillen said.
The "mountain" refers to wet cake, a byproduct of ethanol production that had been polluting the air and water around the AltEn ethanol plant. The facility was processing seed corn, rather than field corn, which meant the wet cake couldn't be fed to animals and instead piled up in fields.
For residents like Jody Weible, the pollution made life in the neighborhood unbearable.
"It smelled so bad. It would burn your nose. It would make your eyes water," she said.
Weible said she struggled to get help from the previous administration under Gov. Pete Ricketts.
"He wouldn't take our calls, he wouldn't meet with us," Weible said.
The cleanup effort has made significant progress. FRG, the company coordinating the remediation, reports that 165,367 tons of wet cake have been removed from the site.
KMTV asked if the state has learned lessons about listening to neighbors if a similar situation arises.
"I'm a believer — get government out of hair — we can't create more laws to keep this from happening. We have to do a better job of — is have accountability in government," Pillen said.
For Weible, the progress represents the power of persistence.
"Just fight and fight because it's worth it. This is my home. I didn't know I had it in me," she said.
The next phase of cleanup will focus on remediating solid waste in the lagoons and continuing water testing downstream of the plant.
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