Illinois EPA refers Canton ethanol plant and grain operation/storage facility to Attorney General for enforcement

SPRINGFIELD --- Illinois  Environmental Protection Agency Director Doug Scott has asked the Illinois Attorney General's Office to proceed with an immediate enforcement action against the owners of an ethanol plant in Canton and an adjacent grain storage operation to compel them to take steps to prevent further runoff contaminated with corn products and ash that are killing fish in a nearby lake. 

 

The request asks the Attorney General's Office  to seek a court order requiring the owners of the Riverland ethanol plant at 23029 E. County Highway 6 in Canton and companies associated with an adjacent grain  operations/storage site to clean up contamination on the ground and cease all contaminated discharges; plug an outfall from the small lake to the larger lake and  install aeration in both lakes;  remove sludge deposits from the small lake;  and remove the 2.3 million  gallons of wastewater at the ethanol plant and transport it for proper treatment, obtaining all required Illinois EPA permits. The Illinois EPA is also recommending that civil penalties be sought.

 

Riverland Biofuels purchased the assets of the original plant from Central Illinois Energy (CIE) in May 2008. CIE went bankrupt prior to completing the facility. Riverland Biofuels completed the ethanol plant and began briefly producing ethanol in December 2008 but then cased production until March 2009 when it resumed production until it stopped operating the first week of March 2010.  The grain operation/storage facility adjacent to the ethanol plant is owned by Green Lion Bio-Fuels and is leased by the Andersons, Inc.  The Illinois EPA alleges in the referral to the Attorney General's Office that Riverland, Andersons and Green Lion have violated the Illinois Environmental Protection Act by allowing the discharge of runoff from rotting corn condensate and leachate, stockpiled ash (from the power station) and corn milling products.

 

Illinois EPA received an anonymous complaint on March 12 about the ethanol plant and grain operation/storage sites. Illinois EPA staff conducted inspections there on March 12, 26, and 22, finding that both of the sites were discharging contaminated stormwater entering a small lake approximately 11 acres in surface area on the Riverland property. No fish were evident in the small lake, which has odorous black solids and sludge deposits and a delta of distillers grain solids, but at least 50 dead turtles were found.  Following the March 12 inspection, an ethanol plant employee removed a beaver dam that had been blocking the small lake outlet, lowering the water level and resulting in a slug of contaminated water entering the larger lake that is approximately 37 acres in surface area. The larger lake now has an on-going fish kill that is also being monitored by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.