Posted Wednesday, April 25, 2012 --- 7:00 a.m.

WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. (AP) -- One of central Wisconsin's largest employers has halted plans to build a refinery at its Wisconsin Rapids paper mill.

NewPage Corp. says the "economics did not justify" continuing the project. The Ohio-based papermaker remains under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and continues to operate during a restructuring process.

The U.S. Department of Energy awarded NewPage $30 million in 2008 to build a so-called biorefinery that would have turned wood chips and mill residue into diesel fuel. Last year the Energy Department gave the papermaker another $20 million for the project.

The Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune (http://wdhne.ws/I8UN2z ) says NewPage employs about 1,700 people at facilities in Wisconsin Rapids, Biron and Stevens Point.

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Information from: Daily Tribune, http://www.wisconsinrapidstribune.com

Copyright 2012. The Associated Press.