MILTON-Four months after going online, the United Ethanol plant is causing talk around town.
A neighbor of the $60 million plant in Milton's Eastside Industrial Park complained to Mayor Nate Bruce that the family's pool and patio furniture are being polluted with ash fallout from the plant.
Other city and community residents, including the mayor, have smelled the yeasty odor of the plant's operation drifting across the city.
Bruce said he was playing golf north of the industrial park when he got a whiff. His golfing partner said it reminded him of his youth, when his mother baked bread, Bruce said.
A rumor also has traveled that the plant recently was shut down because of a fire in one of its driers.
Deputy Fire Chief Chris Lukas said the department wasn't called to extinguish any fire at the ethanol plant.
Although the plant is shut down for regularly scheduled maintenance about 12 times a year, it hasn't been shut down for any other reason, said Erik Ogren, marketing communications manager for United Cooperative.
What appeared to be ash falling from the sky actually was dried distillers grain-a corn product created during the ethanol production process, Ogren said.
For every bushel of corn made into ethanol, 18 pounds of distillers grain are produced.
Many dairy, swine and beef farmers use distillers grain as feed for their livestock, Ogren said.
"Most of the DDG landed on United Ethanol property, within 100 yards of the plant," Ogren said.
The fallout was caused by some sort of a momentary plugging, not a major malfunction, in part of a dryer, and it's not a common occurrence, he said.
Greg Matthews, a spokesperson for the state Department of Natural Resources, said the agency hasn't received any complaints about the Milton plant.
The DNR still needs to inspect the plant to verify the operation matches preconstruction plans, said Tom Roushar, air management program supervisor for the state DNR South Central region.
United Ethanol was the center of controversy for more than a year after a local group voiced concerns about the impact the facility would have on the community's air and water quality.
Leanne Glorvigen, a member of the opposition group, isn't surprised the operation is again receiving community attention.
Christa Westerberg, attorney for the local opposition group, said it's not unusual for ethanol plants to smell.
"This is a good reason not to believe everything you hear," Westerberg said.
In other cities where ethanol plants haven't lived up to their promises, residents there have sought help through the Department of Natural Resources and Department of Justice, Westerberg said.
The city always has the option of enforcing one of its nuisance ordinances if problems need to be corrected, Westerberg said.
One of the selling points of the plant was that it would bring at least 30 new jobs to the community, Glorvigen said.
"Where are those jobs?" Glorvigen asked.
United Ethanol hasn't advertised locally to fill available positions, and most of the people operating the Milton plant have been hired from other states and communities, she said.
Ogren said the Milton plant has 31 employees, but he isn't sure how many of them are from the Milton area.
Since the plant opened, the city also has been dealing with additional semitrailer truck traffic and long trains, holding up traffic at railroad crossings, Glorvigen said.
She doubts the Milton City Council and planning commission were fully informed about such operations before they approved conditional-use permits and welcomed the plant into the city's industrial park.
"If they wanted to invest in speculation, that was fine," Glorvigen said.
"But they should have done it with their own money. I believe that ethanol plants are being brought to small communities nationally because the small communities are desperate to fill their industrial parks."
