Cloverdale ethanol producer blames plant closure on Trump’s EPA

CLOVERDALE, Ind. (AP/WISH) — The owner of an ethanol plant west of Indianapolis is blaming its shutdown on the Trump administration allowing some refineries to not blend ethanol with gasoline as required under federal law.

South Dakota-based ethanol producer Poet says it will cease production by mid-October at its Cloverdale plant, one of four it operates in Indiana. A company notification says 50 workers will lose jobs from the closure.

The company says production is being cut at half of its 28 plants where corn is processed into ethanol. Poet says it’s consolidating jobs at plants in Iowa, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, South Dakota and Missouri.

Poet has Indiana plants near Alexandria in Madison County and North Manchester in Wabash County. The ethanol producer last year began construction of a new plant near Shelbyville in Shelby County.

The Environmental Protection Agency has issued gasoline refinery exemptions removing 2.6 billion gallons (9.8 billion liters) of ethanol from production.

Poet calls those exemptions “bailouts to oil companies.”