PEKIN, Ill. – A Pekin ethanol plant has reached a settlement with the state over years of illegal wastewater discharges into the Illinois River.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced a consent order against Pacific Ethanol Pekin LLC, now operating as Alto Pekin LLC, resolving a lawsuit over water contamination generated by its ethanol refinery in Pekin.
“This consent order is an important step that will protect the Illinois River for all who enjoy and rely on it,” Raoul said.
The facility, a wet-and-dry corn milling plant that converts corn starch into ethanol for transportation fuels, allegedly discharged wastewater into the Illinois River that exceeded temperature, flow, chlorine and nitrogen ammonia limits under its federal pollution discharge permit between January 2012 and October 2017.
The excess discharge of contaminants posed risks to wildlife including birds, fish and other aquatic life, according to Raoul’s office.
Under the consent order, Pacific Ethanol must pay $75,000 in civil penalties and fund a $125,000 replacement of a water control structure at the Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge in Fulton County. The project will allow improved water management on approximately 320 acres of protected wetlands at the site.
Environmental groups praised the settlement.
“This settlement holds Alto Pekin accountable for polluting the Illinois River while helping restore natural floodplain function across 320 acres of wetlands at Emiquon,” said Robert Hirschfeld, Director of Water Policy at Prairie Rivers Network.
The lawsuit was based on a referral from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. The Sierra Club and Prairie Rivers Network were both involved in the case as plaintiff-intervenors.
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