WI biodiesel plant says equipment was deadly

Midwest Biofuel of Clinton sues process technology provider for dangerous non-compliance with State industrial codes
from Janesville GazetteXtra
By ANN MARIE AMES ( Contact ) Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2007

CLINTON — The owners of a new biodiesel plant are suing a manufacturer for equipment they say was deadly.

Midwest Biofuel, 125 Industrial Drive, Clinton, has filed a complaint against ECR Biodiesel Atlanta...

Midwest Biofuel said ECR’s services and designs did not comply with Wisconsin requirements for ventilation and other safety factors, and ECR’s start up instructions “would have resulted in a plant that would have killed everyone in the building within hours of starting operations.”

ECR employees tried to start the new equipment four times, according to court documents.

The plant has been out of production for four months, said Midwest Biofuel President Mirza Ahmed, who practices medicine in Macon, Ga. He is in the process of reverting the innovative “electro-chemical” process designed by ECR into a more traditional method of producing biodiesel.

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