In Virginia, Vireol Bio Energy—the company that once owned the ethanol plant in Hopewell but was sold to Green Plains in October after being mothballed for a year—has filed for bankruptcy and still owes more than $7 million to companies around the region but now has only $750,000 in assets to liquidate in order to pay its bad debts, including $1 million to the City of Hopewell. Much of those assets however are accounts receivable. The City expects to eventually be paid the back taxes, as was done when a former owner bought the facility from the owner before it, and is happy to see that Green Plains has restarted the facility and hired back many of the former employees.
