Cronus Chemical Delays Decision On Plant Location

The company planning to build a new $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in either Iowa or Illinois is delaying a decision on the location.

David Lundy is a spokesman for Cronus Chemical LLC. He told The Associated Press Thursday that the company has pushed its decision back "several weeks'' over engineering issues and how those issues affect building costs.

The privately owned company initially planned to decide between locations in Mitchell County, Iowa, and Tuscola, Ill., late this summer.

The states of Iowa and Illinois have each offered the company $30 million or more in incentives.

The plant would employ about 150 people and create 1,500 construction jobs.

The plant is one of at least 20 massive fertilizer plants being proposed in North America due to growing supplies of natural gas.