Citizens group files motions against ethanol plant ruling

The group filed post-trial motions suggesting court errors.

In his ruling, visiting Boone County Circuit Judge Frank Conley said the plaintiffs failed to prove that the plant proposed by Mount Vernon-based Gulfstream Bioflex Energy LLC would “certainly and inevitably” create a nuisance or damage the surrounding properties. The property owners group filed suit in August to stop GBE from building the $185 million plant that officials say would produce 100 million gallons of fuel-grade corn-based ethanol annually.

In its motions, the group says the “certainly and inevitably” standard is outmoded because it comes from a 1928 Missouri Supreme Court case, and that standard changed to “reasonably certain” after a 1973 case and the Missouri Clean Water Act, according to a statement from the group.

The plaintiffs also call the “certainly and inevitably” standard useless as a legal criteria because it is stricter than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard in criminal law, it blocks access to courts and a legal remedy because it is “an impossible standard to meet,” and it is “contrary to the whole notion of injunctive relief for prospective legal harms,” according to the statement.

Additionally, the plaintiffs contend that the court allowed incompetent evidence and expert testimony into evidence and refused to consider other evidence and testimony from witnesses who had been accepted by the court as experts, according to the statement.

GBE told Springfield Business Journal in May that it expects to obtain all necessary permits for the plant by July, and construction should begin shortly after.

The appeal process begins at the Circuit Court. The case could then go to the Missouri Court of Appeals and possibly the state Supreme Court.