Ethanol plant stirs NIMBY debate

A plan calling for an ethanol plant to be built outside Clovis , New Mexico , is drawing fire from neighbors around the proposed location. They already smell the grain from the nearby elevator and often have to clean up grain dust.

The plant will produce more than 100 million gallons of ethanol annually, which is triple the output of a plant located in Portales, about 20 miles away. There residents complain of a yeasty odor. City officials blame it on discharges from the plant that fester in the Portales wastewater treatment plant. The new plant in Clovis expects to reuse its water.

The companies building the new plant are still in the permit process, so New Mexico environmental officials have not announced a time line for regulation or inspections. The state says it will monitor plant emissions to ensure they do not exceed standards.

Neighbors say they don't feel they'll be safe outside their homes once the plant is built, and some worry about allergies.

[Source: Clovis News Journal]