Fire breaks out at Louis Dreyfus soybean-crush and biodiesel complex in Claypool, Indiana

A fire broke out in a baghouse Feb. 15 at Louis Dreyfus Co.’s large soybean-crush and biodiesel complex in Claypool, Indiana, according to a statement Biobased Diesel Daily obtained from the company. Louis Dreyfus confirmed that smoke was first detected in a baghouse at the facility Tuesday evening.

The statement reads: “LDC confirms that at approximately 8:00 p.m. U.S. Central Time on Tuesday, Feb. 15, smoke was detected in a baghouse at our Claypool, Indiana, crushing facility. The local fire department was called and assisted with putting out the fire. All firefighting water was stopped by 9:15 p.m. There were no injuries to any employees. Operations of the impacted system at the site have been suspended and we will continue to assess the situation and conduct a thorough investigation.”

Louis Dreyfus would provide no information beyond the statement.

The facility first began operations in 2007 and, according to Louis Dreyfus, is the largest fully integrated soybean processing and biodiesel plant in the U.S. Annual production capacity at the BQ-9000-certified biodiesel plant is 88 million gallons per year.