ERI Solutions Inc., the industry leader for safety services in grain ethanol, announced that First United Ethanol LLC was received the “Award of Merit,” which is given to the top 25 percent of ethanol producers who demonstrate the highest commitment to safety and generate the highest combined scores in the areas of ERI Safety Audit scores, OSHA incident rates, and workers compensation claims, said Tom Denning, director of safety at ERI Solutions. The ERI Safety Group is made up of more than 65 ethanol producers representing almost 40 percent of the U.S. ethanol industry’s production. Drew Gahagan, general manager of First United Ethanol LLC, expressed his pride in his employees in stating, “We are very pleased to be recognized in our industry as a safety leader.  The award reflects our employees’ dedication and a concerted effort to a safe work place.  This is an important step in building a strong safety culture at FUEL.” The ethanol company operates a 100 million gallon per year ethanol facility in Mitchell County, Ga.