Defunct Iowa Ethanol Plant Hitting Auction Block Amid Controversy

A 35-million-gallon ethanol plant in Galva, Iowa, previously operated by Quad County Corn Processors has hit the auction block after its lender initiated foreclosure proceedings earlier this year. The company was unable to pay back about $26 million in loans.

The plant features 3.7-million-bushels of grain storage and sits on 31 acres, along with 35 acres of commercial development land that is currently generating rental income as active farmland. The corporate headquarters in downtown Galva and the transload rail logistics hub in Cherokee, Iowa are also up for sale.

Quad County was sued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2022 for allegedly secretly changing its production process in 2015 without informing the agency. The company fraudulently generated more D3 cellulosic renewable identification numbers than it was entitled to under the Renewable Fuel Standard, according to the EPA.

Although a consent decree with the EPA was terminated after the company proved it was unable to meet required financial obligations under the settlement, Quad County initially broke ground on the ethanol plant in December 2000 and doubled its production capacity from 18 million gallons per year to 35 million gallons. The company idled the plant in December 2024 following a mechanical failure and laid off over 40 employees in 2025 due to an ongoing shutdown.