Ethanol plant restarts after fire
Published 10:08 am Tuesday, March 18, 2014
FERGUS FALLS — A Fergus Falls ethanol plant has resumed producing ethanol after a fire last week.
Green Plains Otter Tail, a subsidiary of Green Plains Renewable Energy Inc., began producing ethanol Sunday. The plant was temporarily shut down after a fire in the plant’s dryer system on March 10.
Green Plains officials said the plant will produce “wet cake” — a byproduct of ethanol production that is sold as livestock feed — until the dryer system can be repaired. The company said those repairs might take two months.
The fire was traced to a hydraulic pump failure. No one was hurt.