WINSLOW - The breaching of Fort Halifax Dam is expected to begin Thursday morning.

F. Allen Wiley, spokesman for dam owner FPL Energy, said he has yet to get a specific time on the event but that it should be under way by late morning.

The hydroelectric facility on the Sebasticook River was built 100 years ago.

The planned removal of the dam has been a source of controversy for the last seven years.

Proponents argue that breaching the dam will help fish restoration efforts and enhance the water quality of the Sebasticook.

Opponents of removal argue that doing so will cause environmental, economic and recreational harm, as well as eliminate a source of clean, renewable energy at time of record energy prices and grave environmental concerns.