Florida Governor Charlie Crist says an ethanol plant may be built on land that the state is buying from U.S. Sugar to use for Everglades restoration.

According to an interview with the St. Petersburg Times, reported on TampaBay.com, the governor said he’s concerned about U.S. Sugar’s 1,800 employees, so using some of its property for ethanol production is one of the things he’d like to see.

Although Crist did not endorse a project by a specific company, an ethanol manufacturer backed by General Motors already has spent several months negotiating with U.S. Sugar to build a plant next door to the company’s Clewiston mill.

Negotiations with the ethanol company, Coskata, have been on hold while talks about the state buyout proceed, said Robert Coker of U.S. Sugar, “but depending on what happens in the next month or so, we’ll probably be sitting back down with them.”