Steam will start rising from the Iowa Fertilizer Plant in southeast Iowa this week. Company officials say it’s part of the “standard process” of preparing the plant for full production. The nitrogen fertilizer plant near Wever has been billed as the largest construction project in state history. The company announced Monday that construction is “nearly 98 percent complete” and there will be ‘start-up activities” at the site.

Equipment in the plant will be cleaned, starting later this week, and people in the area will see steam rising from the facility. Plus, there will be “increased lighting on the site” as “components” of the plant get connected to power. There will also be plumes of natural gas that will be seen as flares rising from the plant during the start-up phase. Company officials say once the plant in is full production mode, the flares “will not normally be burning.”

According to the company, the plant will produce up to two MILLION metric tons of fertilizer each year. The Iowa Fertilizer Company won’t be in full production mode, though, until “later this year.”

(Radio Iowa)