Viridis Chemical's ethyl acetate plant is viewed January 18, 2026 from the Cedar Street Bridge Local media outlets aren't reporting this, but in December, Viridis Chemical Co. halted work on the nearly-finished Peoria ethyl acetate plant relocated from Columbus, Nebraska. The decision by investor EIV Capital was blamed on a deteriorating market for "biobased chemicals" and tariffs, which caused the project to go over budget. The former seems to be the bigger problem as the distillation column subject to a 50 percent import tariff was purchased and installed. The suspension explains why a rail siding was not built, and construction activity was put on hold before Christmas. This article does offer hope for the plant - [market development lead Steve] Friedewald expects the facility will start up eventually, but it may be a couple of years before the Viridis team recruits new investors or secures funding to finish final build-out and com...
It is time for my annual update on local airline service. A summer month is best for this update. I used July for 2024's update, and I have every reason to do so again this year. Barring last minute changes, the schedules and route map below are accurate. So let us delve into the present situation. ALLEGIANT AIR Like last year, schedules for July 2025 show most flights operated with Airbus A320 equipment. They do not discern between 177-seat A320s or brand-new 186-seat A320SEOs. Smaller A319s, configured for 156 seats, are now only used on some Las Vegas and Punta Gorda flights. Brand new Boeing 737 Max 8-200 aircraft began appearing on St. Petersburg/Clearwater nonstops as early as February 2025 and are now also used on Orlando-Sanford nonstops. These aircraft are equipped with 190 seats. Seasonal nonstops to Destin/Fort Walton Beach and year-round nonstops to Phoenix-Mesa and Punta Gorda have gained one weekly roundtrip each as compared to last year. So there are now...
After I left the downtown library, I checked to see if BNSF's M-PEIGAL was in the East Peoria Yard, but could not find it. I did notice a headlight down toward Iowa Junction so I circled back via I-474 and found a couple of orange geeps on the point of a covered hopper train waiting at Kickapoo Yard (with the train stretched into Bartonville). Shortly, the crew asked for permission from Iowa Junction to the East Lead. The first 28 cars are probably phosphate empties returning to Florida via TP&W and CSX. The 26 loads are some kind of dry bulk fertilizer, possibly urea. These could be going to the Iowa Interstate, TP&W or both. CAPTION: The Tazewell & Peoria Railroad's Lead 2 rolls by Darst Street in Peoria, Illinois early evening Friday, August 15, 2025. TPW 5010 and IMRR 2108 have 54 cars (28 empties/26 loads). Dry fertilizer loads and empties were pulled from Mosaic Crop Nutrition LLC, located south of Bartonville. - David P. Jordan
Comments
Post a Comment