Nebraska Corn Processing fine resulted from 2010 tests

CAMBRIDGE, Nebraska -- Nebraska Corn Processing, LLC, an ethanol producer in Cambridge, has agreed to pay a civil penalty of up to $12,000 for violating its Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality permit, resulting from an emissions test conducted in June of 2010.

The initial test was done just four months after NCP purchased the plant, which was originally constructed with inadequate equipment and sat idled for more than a year before returning to operational status in March of 2010.

NCP has since invested in significant upgrades to its emissions equipment, and has lowered its volatile organic compound emissions by more than 80 percent since the original test in 2010.

NCP was tested in both 2011 and 2012, and was well within its permitted limits for VOC emissions.

Half of the $12,000 fine could be waived if NCP continues to meet its emission standards for the next six months.

NCP has also agreed to pay $12,000 to two non-profit entities in Cambridge.

The company will pay $6,000 to the Fire Department of Cambridge, to be used for environmental safety, training, public awareness and equipment, and $6,000 to the Cambridge High School chapter of the Future Farmers of America, for development and construction of a greenhouse.