ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Li-Cycle has released a statement after the company put a pause on the construction of its Rochester facility.

In its statement, Li-cycle explains that the near-term steps it took affected around 20 of its employees, furloughing most of them and laying off some of them. The company added that they are working to support these employees during this transition.

The company also said that they are working with the Department of Energy to close on the commitment for a $375 million loan for the project.

The new facility was expected to create over 200 permanent jobs and over 1,000 jobs through its construction. Li-Cycle first announced the pause in late October, citing financial issues due to the costs for the project increasing.

Earlier this week, MasTec Industrial, which was contracted for the project, announced it had to lay off 102 employees due to the halt in construction.

You can read Li-Cycle’s new statement in full below:

Full Statement from Li-Cycle

Dear Rochester Community,

As many of you are aware, we recently made the difficult decision to pause construction work at your Rochester Hub and are working to complete a comprehensive review of the project.

The ongoing review of the project includes an evaluation of the go-forward phasing of the project’s scope, budget, and construction strategy.

Regrettably, the near-term steps we have taken have impacted approximately 20 Li-Cycle employees. The majority of these employees will be furloughed, which is consistent with the construction pause we are taking, and some employees will be laid off.

We have made every effort to provide employees who are impacted with compassionate and thoughtful support to help them through this transition. We thank them for their hard work and commitment to the company.

We are also working closely with the US Department of Energy with respect to closing on te previously announced conditional commitment for a $375 million loan for the project.

Since we announced this review, we have been grateful for the support many of you have offered.

Thank you for your patience as we go through this process, and we look forward to providing you with additional updates.