Cricket Valley Energy, the applicant for a new natural gas–fired electricity-producing power plant just off Route 22 in Dover, has bought out Rasco, a processor of oil-soaked soils that was adjacent to the proposed plant site. Rasco had been given the go-ahead by the Dover Planning Board after a controversial hearing process and was thought to be a continuing hazard to the Great Swamp and to the Carruth Reserve, a nesting area for rare birds.   

Matt Martin, associate project coordinator for Cricket Valley, told us in an interview Monday that the 57-acre Rasco parcel will now be cleaned up and piles of industrial waste and debris removed. When construction is completed, it will be restored and planted with native species. Most of the environmental groups in the area had been alarmed at the prospect of an operation such as Rasco’s being in such close proximity to the Great Swamp, a Critical Environmental Area.