Article: In town of Lena, prosperity stinks: Ethanol boom has some holding noses.

Byline: Greg Burns

Jun. 25--LENA, Ill. -- It moved in waves, pungent and sickly sweet, across the peaceful countryside. It burned the eyes, caught in the throat and made it tough to take a deep breath without coughing.

"You had to run from the car to the house," recalled Heidi Thorp, a glass artist with a studio here. "You couldn't breathe." The good people of Lena have lived through the dark side of the ethanol boom, and, like the acrid emissions from the local factory, hard feelings are just starting to dissipate. For several years, ethanol divided this small bedroom community 40 miles west of Rockford, pitting neighbor against neighbor. ...

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