Citizens sue to block land sale for ethanol plant

Citizens for Groundwater Protection, a private, nonprofit corporation, filed the lawsuit Monday in Webster County Circuit Court against property owners Larry Porter, Linda Jo Porter, Robert Porter, Mary Porter and Jeff Porter.

The Porters have contracted to sell the land – northeast of Highway 60 and Porter Crossing Road – to Gulfstream Bioflex Energy LLC, a group of investors based in Mount Vernon.

The citizens group opposes the company’s plans to drill deep wells for the proposed plant’s water supply. The suit, filed by Springfield attorney William H. McDonald, seeks a preliminary and permanent injunction against the “unreasonable use of groundwater resources,” according to a news release.

The plaintiffs cited a report by the Webster County Groundwater Committee, which raised questions about wastewater discharged by the plant. Groundwater contamination is a “significant concern,” according to the committee, which noted that improperly cased and abandoned wells and bedrock fractures and faults surround the plant site.

Gulfstream Bioflex Energy officials have said the plant would produce up to 88 million gallons of ethanol per year and would produce 1.8 millions gallons each week. The plant is roughly twice the size of the Mid-Missouri Energy ethanol plant in Malta Bend, northwest of Marshall in Saline County.