Merrillville-based Maya Energy's owners have decided to end their lease on a Gary property that they once hoped to turn into a waste-to-fuel plant, ending a nearly decade-long struggle over the facility's future.

Company co-owner Jim Ventura told The Times on Tuesday that he has resigned from his leadership role in the company, and accused the city of stonewalling Maya's efforts.

"I just got tired of that whole negative crazy ridiculous climate that exists in Gary," Ventura said. "I just got fed up, tired with it."

Maya Energy first proposed the construction of a facility that would convert municipal waste into burnable feedstock in 2016, initially receiving the support of then Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson. The company has leased the plant's prospective site on West 35th Avenue from the L

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