Peoria Station

While in the Mapleton area this afternoon I noticed the above sign off Wheeler Road, just a little distance past the Supply Chain Services (SC2) facility.

Mapleton Solution Terminal refers to nearby bulk storage tanks. Olin Mathieson Corp. opened an anti-freeze processing and packaging facility there in December 1957. Eventually acquired by Northern Petrochemical Corp., it manufactured Peak brand anti-freeze for about 30 years.

More recently, the tanks were used for soybean oil storage by Louis-Dreyfus Corp. ADM acquired Louis-Dreyfus’ US operations in 1993, and I recall an “ADM Growmark” sign out front c. 1994. The former manufacturing/packaging building has been used as a Caterpillar contract parts processing facility for well over a decade now. But the storage tanks in the rear have been dormant.

I can’t find any information on a Mapleton Solution Terminal, though the sign could be a marketing ploy by the realtor or the Heart of Illinois Regional Port District to promote the tanks’ re-use. The direct relationship to this blog is that the transportation of bulk liquids could potentially involve railroads. A rail spur built to serve the Olin-Mathieson plant in 1957 was torn up in the late 1990s, but if rail service is desired, arrangements can be made.

I expect the primary selling point for the aforementioned bulk storage tanks is river transportation. When the facility manufactured and packaged anti-freeze, barges delivered glycol. When the facility served as a soybean oil storage facility, barges were loaded with that product.

UPDATE: It turns out that Pekin-based Ag-Land FS acquired the facility earlier this year for use as a liquid nitrogen terminal. From the May 2009 newsletter:

We are now able to load trucks out of our liquid nitrogen terminal in Mapleton. There are only a few minor additions left and the terminal will be operational 24 hours as an unmanned facility. The state-of-the-art computerized loading system and the convenience of 24 hour loading should make this terminal very popular in Central Illinois.

- David P. Jordan