Plans still on track for Nature’s Fuel

Constantine village officials said plans for a new business setting up at the former Rexam plant remain on track.

Village Manager Mark Honeysett said the Fort Wayne, Ind.-based Nature’s Fuel has signed a sales agreement on the purchase of the Rexam site. Honeysett, however, said the transaction remains in progress and a closing has not yet taken place.

Honeysett said the company’s next step after closing on the property will be securing an air-quality permit from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

Nature’s Fuel, which is expected to hire about 75 employees, uses a patented process that involves low-temperatures and a non-combustion procedure to produce bio-oil from ground-up wood scrap. The oil is sold to customers such as Detroit Edison, which in turn burns it to make electricity. The oil is also sold to refineries to make green gasoline and diesel fuel.