Firm To Open Biodiesel Plant

Arkansas SoyEnergy Group LLC is to open its biodiesel facility near DeWitt Tuesday. The company says the plant will turn soybeans grown in the area into fuel and other products.

The company says the facility will be the only one in Arkansas with its own crusher, which will enable the soybeans to be fully processed on site.

The plant on U.S. Highway 165, four miles south of DeWitt, is to ship soybean meal, soybean oil and a diesel fuel that is 100 percent soy.

Sen. Blanche Lincoln and Congressman Marion Berry are to be on hand for the opening.

The plant is to have a crushing capacity of 4 million bushels per year, which would produce 4.5 million gallons of oil. A second phase is to expand that to 7 million gallons of soy diesel.