Thursday, May 26, 2016 11:15 am

BUCKSPORT, Maine (From the The Ellsworth American) -- Phase 1 of the former Verso Paper mill demolition project is under way and on schedule to be completed by the end of the year.

Independence Excavators has been working six days per week since the Bucksport Town Council voted to allow Saturday demolition earlier this month.

"We've been very happy with them since they got here and mobilized and up to work," said Jeff McGlinn, vice president of AIM Development Corp., the company that now owns the Verso site.

The log processing area of the mill and the papermaking buildings along the Penobscot River are both part of Phase 1 demolition.