Governor Mike Pence says state negotiations with a Pakistan-based fertilizer company have been reopened after the state expressed concerns about the company's ties to terrorist activity.
Last year, Pence withdrew state economic incentives offered to Midwest Fertilizer Corporation for construction of a new multi-billion dollar plant in Posey County.
That decision came after Department of Defense officials complained that Fatima Group, a Pakistani company with an ownership stake in Midwest Fertilizer, hadn't cooperated with efforts to reduce the threat of their products being used for improvised explosive devices—or IEDs.
Now, Pence says the company has created a new, less detonable fertilizer.
"As I spoke to Defense Department officials last night, they informed me that the second round of testing, with full cooperation with the company, had taken place and produced efforts that they characterized as commendable," Pence says.
Local Posey County officials never stopped working with Midwest Fertilizer and a groundbreaking on the plant is expected this summer.