A plan to build a natural gas plant at a North Country landfill has gotten preliminary approval from the town of Bethlehem.
The $15 million-dollar project comes from several companies, including Liberty Utilities.
It would capture methane given off by decomposing trash at the Casella-owned landfill.
Then the facility would convert that methane into natural gas for sale to Liberty's customers.
Developers say the project would benefit the environment, because natural gas burned as fuel contributes less than landfill-emitted methane to the carbon emissions that drive climate change.
Liberty would be the state's first utility to own a landfill gas plant. A similar facility in Rochester supplies gas to the University of New Hampshire.
Pending other state and local approvals, Liberty and its partners hope to break ground next spring.
