Cloverdale to dispose of Altra waste

CLOVERDALE -- A deal has been struck between the town of Cloverdale and the Altra Biofuels plant.

The ethanol plant has been accused by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management of being in violation of several permits, and IDEM is demanding the situation be resolved.

Part of the solution is to use Cloverdale's wastewater treatment plant to remove some of the waste. Approximately 8 million gallons of waste has been left in Altra's waste treatment plant.

Cloverdale's utility manager Don Guthrie said the town will take an estimated 2.5 million gallons of the leftover waste.

The storage tanks on the plant's site have not been included in the contract signed April 28 during a utility board meeting. The contents of the tanks cannot be properly processed through Cloverdale's wastewater system.

Although Cloverdale will receive $140,000 to process the waste, it won't get to keep much. Operating costs have been included in the figure.

"It is no different than any other waste coming through (the town)," said town council member Terry Puffer.

A timeline of when Altra will begin shipping the remaining waste in its plant to Cloverdale has not been determined.

The ethanol plant has been taken over by a receiver, James A. Knauer of Indianapolis. Once the plant is in compliance with IDEM, it will go into a cold shutdown until a new investor comes along.