POET’s Cloverdale ethanol plant closes despite EPA deal

In Indiana, POET’s Cloverdale plant went ahead and shut its doors last Friday, laying off around 50 workers and only keeping enough staff on hand for security reasons, following an initial announcement in August. The company blames the “missing gallons” as a result of the Environmental Protection Agency’s approval of 31 small refinery hardship waivers and the fall in ethanol prices as a result of lower demand as the reason for shutting down the plant. Even though the EPA recently announced a compromise between refiners and ethanol producers for 2020, it wasn’t enough to stall the closure of the plant.