GRAFTON, Ill. — A development group's investor says a southwestern Illinois plant that will process invasive Asian carp culled from the Mississippi and Illinois rivers could launch its operations within eight months.

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Officials gathered Thursday to welcome plans for the $5.4 million venture in Grafton, a 700-resident town near the confluence of the two big inland rivers.

Ben Allen of American Heartland Fish Products says the venture already has lined up a three-year deal to supply a Chinese customer a total of 35 million pounds of processed carp.

To read the rest of the story, please go to: Associated Press