Once a major contributor to the local economy, the old General Electric plant in Fort Edward is scheduled to start coming down next week.

GE revealed Monday that an excavator will be used on the buildings at Route 4 and Broadway next Monday.

They expect the work to take about nine months.

GE is saying there will be no road closures or overnight work to bother neighbors and they say they're working with the DEC to make sure air quality stays safe.

The final announcement to close the Fort Edward facility came back in 2013 — leaving many employees out of a job and dealing a big blow to tax revenue.

The Fort Edward plant was also one of those responsible for dumping large amounts of PCB chemicals into the Hudson River, forcing GE to spend millions of dollars on dredging efforts.

The Environmental Protection Agency only certified the cleanup as completed this year. Legal challenges to that certification are still ongoing.