Contact:
Robert Hirschfeld | Director of Water Policy, Prairie Rivers Network
rhirschfeld@prairierivers.org | 217-344-2371, ext. 205
Jack Darin | Illinois Chapter Director, Sierra Club | jack.darin@sierraclub.org | 312-251-1680
Alto Pekin (formerly Pacific Ethanol) must pay a $75,000 penalty and fund $125,000 in wetland restoration at Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge
PEKIN, Ill. — An eight-year legal fight over pollution from a major ethanol refinery on the Illinois River has ended with a final consent order requiring Alto Pekin, LLC (formerly Pacific Ethanol Pekin) to pay a $75,000 civil penalty and fund a $125,000 wetland restoration project on the river’s floodplain.
The Illinois Attorney General’s Office filed the case in January 2018 at the request of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, after Prairie Rivers Network (PRN) and Sierra Club served a 2017 notice of intent to sue over repeated permit violations.
The claims centered on thermal pollution: plant records showed wastewater discharges sometimes as much as 40 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than the permit allowed. Heat can reduce dissolved oxygen and stress fish and other aquatic life. PRN and Sierra Club intervened in June 2019, adding federal Clean Water Act and public nuisance claims, with counsel including the Environmental Advocacy Center at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law.
What the consent order requires
- Pay a $75,000 civil penalty to the state’s Environmental Protection Trust Fund.
- Provide $125,000 to Ducks Unlimited for a wetland restoration project at Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge in Fulton County.
- Comply with the facility’s renewed wastewater discharge permit, which formally defines the mixing zone for thermal discharges and requires temperature standards to be met beyond it.
- Cease and desist from future violations of the laws at issue in the case.
Alto neither admitted nor denied the alleged violations.
The restoration sends settlement dollars back to the river at the center of the case. Working under U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service guidance, Ducks Unlimited will replace a water-control structure on the refuge’s Wilder Tract, restoring water management, and the natural flood pulses that sustain waterfowl, across roughly 320 acres of floodplain wetlands by November 30, 2027.
“Rivers can’t speak in court, so we speak for them,” said Robert Hirschfeld, Director of Water Policy at Prairie Rivers Network. “It’s encouraging to see the state work to protect its namesake river. This settlement holds Alto Pekin accountable for polluting the Illinois River while helping restore natural floodplain function across 320 acres of wetlands at Emiquon. Those wetlands will hold floodwater, welcome waterfowl, and remind us that rivers aren’t dumping grounds; they are communities of life that need protecting.”
The plant’s broader pollution footprint
The consent order resolves the water claims in this case, but not the facility’s overall pollution problem. The Environmental Integrity Project’s (EIP) 2024 report, Farm to Fumes: Hazardous Air Pollution from Biofuel Production, found that Alto Pekin reported releasing 295,597 pounds of acetaldehyde, a hazardous air emission and probable human carcinogen, in 2022. That’s more than any other U.S. biofuel plant and the second-highest total
among all industrial facilities nationwide. The facility also reported 9,403 pounds of formaldehyde, the sixth-highest total among biofuel plants. Formaldehyde is a known human carcinogen.
The report also identified Alto Pekin as a high-priority Clean Air Act violator in every one of the 12 quarters reviewed from July 2021 through May 2024. EIP’s review found four Clean Air Act enforcement actions and $308,374 in penalties involving the facility during the preceding five years.
The problem extends beyond Pekin. EIP found that 226 U.S. biofuel plants reported 12.9 million pounds of hazardous air pollutants in 2022, while more than 40 percent of 240 plants violated their air-pollution permits at least once between July 2021 and May 2024. Illinois ethanol plants alone reported 2.2 million pounds of hazardous air pollutants in 2022.
“Corn ethanol is marketed as clean, homegrown energy, but the record tells a different story: years of alleged permit violations affecting the Illinois River and, at this same plant, the nation’s second-highest reported acetaldehyde emissions in 2022,” Hirschfeld said. “This settlement addresses a serious pattern of river pollution; it is not a clean bill of health for the facility or the ethanol industry at large. Communities should not have to trade clean water and clean air for an industry propped up by public mandates and subsidies.”
Prairie Rivers Network will continue monitoring Alto Pekin’s compliance with its permit and the consent order, which resolves only the claims raised in the case and preserves the state’s rights regarding future violations and natural-resource damages.
“It’s never been more important that Illinois steps up to enforce our environmental laws as the federal government steps back from its obligations to protect our resources for future generations,” said Jack Darin, Director of the Sierra Club, Illinois Chapter. “This settlement includes an important improvement for the Illinois River and its wildlife, and also sends a signal that polluters will still be held accountable in Illinois thanks to Attorney General Raoul and advocates who will always work to protect the Prairie State.”
About Prairie Rivers Network
At Prairie Rivers Network (PRN), we protect water, heal land, and inspire change. Using the creative power of science, law, and collective action, we protect and restore our rivers, return healthy soils and diverse wildlife to our lands, and transform how we care for the earth and for each other. PRN is the Illinois affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation. To learn more please visit www.prairierivers.org.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person’s right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.
