VIDALIA&8212; The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality approved a permit Wednesday that will make construction for the LIEL rubber plant all but a certainty, Mayor Hyram Copeland said.

&8220;We&8217;ve been working on this project for three years and hopefully this is a start to bring additional industry to Vidalia and the Miss-Lou,&8221; Copeland said.

Copeland said the approval of the permit is to ensure that the LIEL rubber plant can operate in the Vidalia Industrial Park.

&8220;It&8217;s a formal procedure really,&8221; Copeland said. &8220;The DEQ just wants to make sure the rubber plant will not have any problems with pollution.&8221;

At Tuesday&8217;s aldermen meeting the board approved a resolution for the Louisiana Community Development Block Grant that will pay for the plant&8217;s infrastructure, Copeland said.

&8220;Again this is just a formality because the state has already approved the grant so we just had to approve it too,&8221; Copeland said.

LIEL plans to open a 25-acre recycling plant with 60 employees.