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--></style></head><body lang="EN-US" link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class="WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal">Shocking levels of insecticide contamination have been measured in Nebraska due to neonic-treated seed corn being converted in ethanol at a biofuel plant. In addition to the effects on local residents, it also led to honey bee kills and contamination of milkweed growing on creek sides.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Matthew</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">********************</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">FROM: The Guardian (Sunday, 1/10/21)</p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt">‘There’s a red flag here’: how an ethanol plant is dangerously polluting a US village</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">For the residents of Mead, Nebraska, the first sign of something amiss was the stench, the smell of something rotting. People reported eye and throat irritation and nosebleeds. Then colonies of bees started dying, birds and butterflies appeared disoriented and pet dogs grew ill, staggering about with dilated pupils.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">There is no mystery as to the cause of the concerns in Mead, a farming community so small that its 500 residents refer to it as a village and not a town.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">After multiple complaints to state and federal officials and an inquiry by a researcher from the University of Nebraska, all evidence points to what should be an unlikely culprit – an ethanol plant that, like many others around the United States, turns corn into biofuel.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Read more at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/10/mead-nebraska-ethanol-plant-pollution-danger">https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/10/mead-nebraska-ethanol-plant-pollution-danger</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">----------</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt">Matthew Shepherd</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt">Director of Communications & Outreach</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:9.0pt">he/him/his</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><img border="0" width="160" height="60" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D6E7E8.7D4151B0" alt="Email-Outlook_Xerces-logo-CMYK"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt">Protecting the Life That Sustains Us</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt">Connect @xercessociety on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/xercessociety/" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">Facebook</span></a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/xercessociety" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">Twitter</span></a>, and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/xercessociety/?hl=en" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">Instagram</span></a>.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt">Visit <a href="https://xerces.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">xerces.org</span></a> to read our <a href="https://xerces.org/blog" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">blog</span></a>, sign up for our <a href="https://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/manage/optin?v=001HTk7N6nZumLPinBr8VACbNdTXCe732bGu6KpqC13JAKPti_HBe5xyr7t0p4mDfKe2dOsd-TB1qvv772s6GQfVa_SbKKfwBiwl4blH4KvCjq4dpmA2M9UNZ2axlQwu_1Gvjrl2Rb53WUZwsddwCzyorgxedLAaMy3" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">e-newsletter</span></a>, and learn what you can do.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt">Watch on <span style="color:#1f497d"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAiPLPJuySOgn6CbjkOxqLQ"><span style="color:blue">YouTube</span></a>.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt">Support our work: <a href="https://xerces.org/donate/"><span style="color:blue">Donate</span></a>!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt">628 NE Broadway, Suite 200, Portland, OR 97232, USA</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt">Cell: (503) 807-1577</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt">Office: (503) 232-6639 x110</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt"><a href="mailto:matthew.shepherd@xerces.org" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">matthew.shepherd@xerces.org</span></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div></body></html>