The Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy’s 2020 Clean Diesel Rebate Program is now accepting applications for two types of rebates—local diesel truck replacements and agricultural irrigation pump diesel engine replacements. Applications must be submitted to NDEE by January 22, 2021, to be considered.

NDEE established the Nebraska Clean Diesel Program in 2008 to distribute funding received from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the purpose of reducing diesel emissions and improving air quality in the state.

The artwork of 13 Nebraska students will be featured in the 2024 “Nebraska: Don’t Waste It!” environmental calendar. The statewide contest is sponsored by the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy (NDEE) and focuses on the importance of waste reduction, recycling and litter cleanup.

From personal onsite wastewater lagoons to municipal wastewater treatment facilities and animal feeding operations, thousands of homes and businesses across the state of Nebraska rely on clay lined lagoons and holding ponds as a trusted technology to control wastewater.

The Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy will present Proposed Changes to Title 124, Rules and Regulations for the Design, Operation and Maintenance of Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems webinar on Friday, March 5, 2021, at 9 a.m. This webinar is intended for installers, inspectors, pumpers and engineers of onsite wastewater systems, and homeowners or industrial facilities who utilize an onsite wastewater system for treatment and disposal of wastewater. The free seminar is open to the general public.

LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy Director Jim Macy announced Feb. 5 the award of $6,686,369 in grants to support 144 projects across the state. These grants will help fund litter and waste reduction projects, recycling programs, and pay costs for scrap tire cleanups and collections for household hazardous waste, electronic waste, and pharmaceuticals.

LINCOLN – The Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy (NDEE) confirmed that AltEn, LLC near Mead, Nebraska, completed its shut down at 4 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 8, 2021.

While the facility has halted its ethanol production, it is running a steam boiler to prevent its system from freezing and causing uncontrolled discharges. Nearby residents may see a heat plume from the facility’s stack as this boiler is running.

The Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy (NDEE) responded to a discharge at the AltEn ethanol facility near Mead on Friday, Feb. 12.

NDEE staff were on site Friday and throughout the weekend to monitor and assess the discharge. The agency observed spill material in culverts up to four and a half miles southeast of the initial spill site. As of Feb. 16, the discharge is not migrating further and has not reached the Platte River. AltEn has constructed a dam south of the Highway 66 and Road 7 junction to prevent further migration.

Mead area residents will see machinery and mitigation work starting today, Feb. 18, regarding a discharge at the AltEn ethanol facility.

The Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy has received AltEn’s response to a letter of non-compliance, which includes the facility’s cleanup plans for the Feb. 12 discharge.

NDEE Director Jim Macy said it has been a constructive week for the agency in investigating and responding to the discharge.

The Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy Director Jim Macy issued an Emergency Order and Complaint requiring immediate action on the discharge that took place Feb. 12 at the AltEn ethanol facility in Mead.

Macy issued the order and complaint on Saturday, Feb. 20. It follows a Feb. 17 letter of non-compliance, in which the agency instructed AltEn to take mitigation and cleanup efforts on the discharge.

The state has issued a health alert for Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB), also known as toxic blue-green algae, at Glenn Cunningham Lake in Douglas County and Iron Horse Trail Lake in Pawnee County.

Swanson Reservoir in Hitchcock County remains on health alert after being on alert last week.

Samples taken earlier this week at these lakes measured above the threshold of 8 parts per billion (ppb) of total microcystin, which is a toxin released by certain strains of blue-green algae.