It was reported Sept/09 that the Cameron Family Glass Packaging (CFGP) manufacturing plant in Kalama, Washington State, had re-fired its furnace following a leak that occurred back in January. However, latest reports suggest the plant has been forced to close after it failed to reach an agreement with its lenders to obtain additional funding to continue operations. The furnace, reportedly the biggest cold top electric glass melter in the world, was designed by UK electric melting specialist Electroglass. Since the closure of the plant, circumstances surrounding the leak are subject to dispute. Electroglass maintains that following 2m successful operations, the leak was caused by a colour transition being undertaken at the plant while CFGP states that the furnace failure "directly & negatively affected" its production.
