Railcar shipments making a comeback in Indiana
High diesel prices are turning companies to trains.
Energy & Environment
Articles
Iron ore processor plans $350M Indiana project
A Minnesota-based mining company plans to spend as much as $350 million to build a iron ore pellet plant in Indiana, creating up to 100 jobs by 2015, the company announced Tuesday morning.
Airport could land second solar-energy farm
The Indianapolis Airport Authority is in talks that could lead to a second solar farm at Indianapolis International Airport. Discussions are taking place even as the initial solar farm has yet to get off the ground.
Drought no obstacle to record income for U.S. farms
Even after the worst drought in a half-century shriveled crops from Ohio to Nebraska, U.S. farmers are having their most-profitable year ever because of record- high prices and insurance claims.
ExactTarget co-founder Baggott turns zeal to natural farming
Chris Baggott has spent the past year and a half raising cattle, pigs and chickens on pasture, rather than conventional feed grain, and without the use of hormones or antibiotics.
Transit, runoff bills on environmental group’s legislative wish list
But with a legislature that could be unreceptive to environmental policy, HEC is also guarding against an unwinding of existing laws.
Green BEAN Delivery expands with second farm
The locally based purveyor of organic produce is leasing 50 acres in Ohio to serve its customers in that state, Indiana and Kentucky.
Lilly Endowment gives Indiana nature trust $10M grant
The grant announced Wednesday by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources brings to $30 million the amount of funding for the initiative to acquire more wilderness land to mark the state's 200th birthday in 2016.
Gift lets land trust preserve 109 acres in Johnson County
A $200,000 gift from the Dr. Laura Hare Charitable Trust will help the Central Indiana Land Trust acquire 109 forested acres in southwest Johnson County.
Authorities seek cause, assess damages of fatal explosion
Indianapolis Deputy Code Enforcement Director Adam Collins said 80 homes were damaged in the Richmond Hill neighborhood, including 31 houses that might need to be demolished. He estimated the damage at $3.6 million.
CountryMark buying oil, natural gas operations for $125 million
Indianapolis-based CountryMark Cooperative Holding Corp. said Friday morning that it has agreed to pay $125 million to purchase a portion of the oil and natural gas operations of Continental Resources Inc. in Oklahoma City.
Hoosier Environmental Council’s job no easier with Pence administration
Group plans full-time presence at Statehouse to guard against governor, Republican legislature rolling back environmental protections.
Out-of-the-way telecom company to branch into Indy
Smithville Telephone, headquartered in Ellettsville, near Bloomington, is the state’s largest independently owned phone company. Its Smithville Digital division, which provides fiber-optic communications to businesses, hospitals and schools in 17 Indiana counties, mostly in the south, has quietly been growing on the periphery of Indianapolis.
Duke Energy earnings hurt by mild weather
Duke Energy Corp., the nation's largest electric utility by market value, reported stronger-than-expected earnings for the third quarter, but company executives said the outlook for strong economic growth in the U.S. is dim.
Farm fatalities fall in Indiana; no children die
A new Purdue University report says farm-related deaths in Indiana fell to 16 last year and none involved children for the first time in 13 years.
Indiana’s oldest ethanol plant shuts down, idling 40
High corn prices, large ethanol inventories, lower gas prices and lower fuel demand were factors cited for the shutdown.
Westfield votes to approve $91M water utility sale
The Westfield City Council voted 6-1 Monday night to transfer its water and wastewater assets to Citizens Energy Group for $91 million.
Dry cleaners moving to ‘perc’ alternatives
One of the region’s largest dry cleaning companies recently washed its hands of perchloroethylene, the dry cleaning chemical at the heart of about 170 cleaner site cleanups statewide.
Dry cleaners’ solvents taint Martinsville’s water
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently proposed placing the city of Martinsville on its Superfund priority list, citing groundwater contamination traced to several former dry cleaning shops in the heart of town.
Backers of 30-year gas-purchase deal to press on
The Indiana Finance Authority and Indiana Gasification LLC plan to amend a 30-year contract that obligates the state to buy the company's synthetic natural gas. The move is in reaction to an appeals court ruling that reversed regulators' approval of the deal.