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Most Recent:
Groups Sue EPA Over Failure to Regulate Insecticide-Coated Seeds, Center for Food Safety, June 1, 2023
Webinar: "Struggling bees, systemic pesticide pollution, and the health of our communities" given by UNL Associate Professor & Extension Specialist Dr. Judy Wu-Smart sponsored by the Kanza Sierra Club (Passcode: 0J@2V0uR)
Neonicotinoid insecticides: Failing to come to grips with a predictable environmental disaster, American Bird Conservancy, 2023
Click here to view the University of Nebraska Medical Center Documents page
Click here to view, "EPA Continues to Exempt the Most Widespread Bee- and Bird-Killing Insecticides, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility," blog by Peter Jenkins, Oct. 20, 2022
Click here to view information about the Town Hall meeting at the Mead Firehall on June 16, 2022
Tributaries surrounding the AltEn plant, Courtesy of Dr. John Schalles
Legislation
Ban on treated seed in ethanol production amended, advanced: LB 507 and amendments
'Treated seed in ethanol production banned,' Nebraska Unicameral Update, (LB507, LB190, LB191, LB395), April 29, 2021
'Environmental regulator granted additional authority,' Nebraska Unicamerial Update, April 13, 2022
Funds approved for behavioral health residency program, AltEn study: Lawmakers passed a bill April 12 intended to boost behavioral health provider capacity in underserved areas of Nebrask MedicalCenter to provide residency training positions for physicians, physician assistants and psychiatric nurse practices . . . . The bill includes provisions of LB1048, sponsored by Bellevue Sen. Carol Blood, requiring the University of Nebraska (one million dollars) to continue a study of the environmental and human health effects of the AltEn plant in Mead. The now-closed ethanol production plant used treated seed as raw material, leaving behind toxic byproducts that may have contaminated the water, soil and air surrounding the facility. LB1068 passed on a vote of 35-8 and took effect immediately. Nebraska Unicamerial Update, April 11-20, 2022
LB634 - Provide a cause of action for unsafe disposal of treated seed
Selected Technical Reports and Documents
Nebraska Department of Environment & Energy: Information and Updates for AltEn near Mead, Nebraska (Facility ID: 84069)
Information about the nearby Nebraska Ordnance Plant Superfund Site
Extracted from: The Groundwater Atlas of Saunders County, Nebraska, November 2015
Complaint, Compliance Order and Notice of Opportunity for Hearing, November 20, 2018
Air pollution at AltEn, Signed March 30, 2019, 2018 readings
NDEE Notice of Violation, August 9, 2018
Air pollution at AltEn, April 15-16, 2020
Consent order to allow limited operation and testing of biochar unit, February 24, 2020
Performance test results on biochar/gassifer stack, July 21, 2020
NDEE Air quality compliance report, February 25, 2020
AltEn March 2021 rain event record, March 2021
Safe Handling of Treated Seed, UNL Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, April 16, 2020
AltEn marketing memo soliciting treated seed for their ethanol plant, August 3, 2020
Letter from the EPA to NDEE stating that: The EPA cannot conclude that land application of the wet cake will not result in unreasonable adverse effects on humans or the environment, Nov. 17. 2020.
Natural Resources Defense Council, OPP Docket, U.S. EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), (28221T), June 18, 2020 (scroll to #6 for information about treated seeds)
AltEn site visit report, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, NDEE, March 18, 2021
Residential Proximity to Pesticide Application as a Risk Factor for Childhood Central Nervous System Tumors, Environmental Research Journal, March 21, 2021.
Treated seeds regulations, March 25, 2021
Environmental Site Investigation, AltEn LLC, Mead, Nebraska, IIS#84069, Nebraska Dept. of Environment & Energy, April 14, 2021
Surface and Groundwater Contamination, Community and Ecosystem Exposures Are the Unintentional Consequences from “Recycling” Treated Seed Products, Shannon L. Bartelt-Hunt and Jesse E. Bell, Environmental Science & Technology, April 15, 2021.
Nebraska Voluntary Cleanup Program Overview, (posted on this web page on June 15, 2021)
What's on your seed? This publication is available from the Nutrient and Pest Management (NPM) Program. For copies, contact us at: phone (608) 265-2660, email (npm@hort.wisc.edu) or visit our website: https:/ipcm.wisc.edu
Comments on the Proposed Interim Registration Review Decisions for the Neonicotinoid Insecticide Class, letter to EPA from Lucas Rhoads
Staff Attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council, (item number 6on page 6 makes reference to AltEn), June 18, 2021.
Protecting Aquatic Ecosystems: Insecticide Seed Treatments Threaten Midwestern Waterways, Xerces Society, 2021.
by Scott Smith, Jordan Talmon, Dawson Bartunek, Helen Little & Taya Derun
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Sample of the warnings on a bag of treated seeds (above) Click here to view a pdf of the treated seed label.
Results indicating that the biochar is contaminated, NDEE, tests performed by South Dakota Agriculture Laboratories, March 26, 2021
