Eastern Iowa Plant With Wastewater Violations Closes Permanently

Eastern Iowa is losing an employer.

According to Mississippi Valley Publishing, ADM, an American multinational food processing and commodity trading corporation is closing its doors in Keokuk Iowa. As of right now, it is uncertain how many employees will be affected by the closure.

The article says that officials from the city have been working with ADM since January, on a variety of issues relating to the plant’s wastewater pretreatment. It was almost like a domino effect; the plant’s pretreatment operation had many upsets and failures which then led to loading to the Keokuk wastewater treatment facility, leading to the city’s facility being non-compliant with its discharge permit.

The city thinks that the costs associated with repairing the pretreatment operation influenced the plant’s decision to shut down.

A spokesperson for ADM in the Mississippi Valley Publishing article says that the company regularly assesses its global footprint to see how it aligns with customer needs and growth and that the Keokuk plant no longer aligns with the business’s future operation needs.

Keokuk Mayor Kathie Mahoney released a statement in response to the closure,

We are all disappointed in ADM’s decision to close the Keokuk plant rather than invest the necessary capital to improve the facility and maintain operations. The city will be working with local and state officials to hopefully find a company to replace ADM,”

On August 18^th, at the last city council meeting, an update on ADM’s violations was given saying that the city issued two notices of violation to ADM since they signed a consent order with the city. The first is about a heavy slug load caused by ADM recycling solids through the digester; the other is for a fire in a fan in the production area.

The Lee County Economic Development Group and Iowa Economic Development Authority will help find prospective buyers for the facility.