RUSHMORE -- Residents of Rushmore will be glad to hear the smoldering corn that has had a cloud of black smoke and a burnt smell hanging over their town for the past two weeks should be gone soon, according to United Farmers Co-op (UFC) Elevator location manager Mike Miller.
"It is going up for sale Monday morning," he told the Daily Globe Thursday afternoon.
The sale of the corn, which was burned in a bin fire Oct. 27, Miller said, is being handled by a salvage company, which sent out invitations to the sale.
Miller said farmers interested in buying the corn to feed their cattle have said the outside looks bad, but the heart of the corn is fine.
"I know it smells bad," he admitted.
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After the sale, the buyer will be given a set date for removing the corn, but Miller did not know what that date would be.
When asked what the company's reaction was to complaints that people in Rushmore had gotten sick from the constant smell and smoke in town, Miller said it was news to him.
"Nothing has been said to us," he stated.
By tonight, he reported, the smell and smoke should be gone.
"We'll finish cleaning out the bin, and all the smoke should be gone," he explained. "As soon as the bin is cleaned out, we'll screen the pile on the other end. We have a farmer hauling that stuff out."
Miller could not say for sure how many bushels of corn were in the bin when the fire started, but said the bin is rated at 400,000 bushels.
