Bennu Glass on pace to fire up Kalama plant this summer

Workers at the Bennu Glass plant have chiseled away tons hardened glass from the crippled melter of the wine bottle plant here, and a new furnace and 100 employees should be ready to restart the shuttered plant in July, company officials say.

"After being in a holding pattern for two years, we now are working feverishly on a number of things," said Bennu CEO Jerry Lemieux.

Most important is the replacement of the 400-ton electric melter, or furnace. Using an electric-powered furnace was considered risky technology, and failure of the unit ultimate brought the plant down shortly after the Pennsylvania-based Cameron family opened it on Port of Kalama property.