NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The state has given the green light to economic development officials to start buying up property rights to build a 35-mile wastewater line from the Memphis Regional Megasite to the Mississippi River.

The move follows an earlier decision amid a public outcry to abandon plans to dump treated wastewater form the site into the nearby Hatchie River.

The executive subcommittee of the State Building Commission voted 3-0 to approve the plans for buying the easements for the $41 million wastewater main project. The Department of Economic and Community Development says it will begin negotiating with about 210 property owners between the site and the Mississippi River.

A wastewater treatment plant will later be built on the 6.5-square-mile megasite located about 40 miles east of downtown Memphis.