By Eileen M. Adams,Staff Writer

MEXICO – F & B Wood Corp. has filed an application with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to start-up the hydroelectric plant at the former Thurston mill on Route 120.

Fernand and Beverley Corriveau of Gilead bought the former mill and 13 acres from Harold Jones about a year ago. Jones is a retired physician from the southern part of the state. The mill was operated for many years as a dowel mill by the Thurston family until the late 1990s when the wood-turning business filed for bankruptcy.

Beverley Corriveau said Thursday afternoon that the couple has been going through the permitting process for several months. Fernand, a trucker and logger, also has produced dowels at a small sawmill located at the rear of their North Road home in Gilead. The goal was to set up a dowel mill at the Mexico site when the property was purchased.

But with the decline in the wood-turning business statewide, Beverley said the two are now looking to restart the hydroelectric plant that is located on the banks of the Swift River, then sell the electricity. She said the water rights are already secured.

The newer, concrete building located across Route 120 from the plant, is being used as rental storage space for a variety of businesses, and for storing some of the Corriveau’s lumber and dowels.

She’s not sure what other development will happen at the site, although the couple is exploring the possibility of selling bulk water from the two wells located on the property.

The application was filed with the DEP this week. Anyone interested in a public hearing on the matter, or those who want the Board of Environmental Protection to assume jurisdiction over the application must notify the DEP. Those who wish to make comments on the application should send them to: Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Land and Water Quality, 17 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333.

Corriveau said she expects the hydroelectric plant to be re-started sometime after the first of the new year.