HAMPDEN (AP) — The groups that are partnering to build a $69 million waste-to-energy plant in Hampden say it’s on track to open in April.

Fiberight CEO Craig Stuart-Paul says the road construction system has been completed and the site is now being cleared. Construction on the 144,000-square-foot biogas plant is expected to begin later this summer or early in the fall.

Fiberight and the Municipal Review Committee are partners on the Hampden facility, which will use a chemical process to produce ethanol and biogas.

The MRC represents 187 municipalities in Maine that send their solid waste to the Penobscot Energy Recovery Company in Orrington. The contract between the MRC and the existing Penobscot Energy Recovery Company incinerator ends in 2018.

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