Union Pacific's 2015 upgrade outlay $98M
Union Pacific Railroad will spend $98 million this year to maintain and upgrade track, signals and bridges around Arkansas.
Most of the money is budgeted for regular maintenance of rails, ties and ballast, Union Pacific spokesman Jeff DeGraff said Friday.
DeGraff said some of the work has already started. Most of the repair budget, about $81 million, is for track maintenance. Another $8 million will be spent improving signal systems, and another $8 million will be spent on bridge work.
Among the bigger projects Union Pacific plans is a $23 million project to replace 44 miles of rail and repair the surfaces at 65 rail crossings from the Lincoln County city of Gould south to the Louisiana border. Other project plans include $9.7 million to replace ties, install rock ballast and resurface 62 crossings between Van Buren and Knoxville. Another $71 million will be spent replacing ties, installing ballast and resurfacing 40 road crossings between Hope and Texarkana.
-- Glen Chase
N.Y. Wal-Marts pull lawn phosphorus
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has removed lawn fertilizers with phosphorus from the shelves of its stores in New York as part of a settlement reached with the state of New York.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced the settlement Friday. Wal-Mart, according to the attorney general's office, was violating state law related to proper labeling of fertilizers.
A 2010 state law aimed at reducing water pollution from excess phosphorus requires retailers to label products that include the ingredient.
"New York alleged that we lacked the state required informational signage in our stores about lawn fertilizers containing phosphorous. We voluntarily agreed to stop selling lawn fertilizers with phosphorus in New York," spokesman Randy Hargrove said.
Wal-Mart said it will consider selling the fertilizers in the future with the proper labeling.
-- Chris Bahn
Arkansas Index falls; Acxiom gains 2.5%
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, fell 2.90 to 374.85 Friday.
Thirteen stocks declined, and five advanced.
Acxiom gained 2.5 percent on double its usual volume.
ArcBest fell 5.3 percent in heavy trading.
For the week, 13 stocks declined, four advanced, and one was unchanged.
Total volume of the index was 25.4 million shares. The average daily volume for the week was 26.2 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 05/30/2015