New Washington Wine Bottle Plant Closes

Cameron Family Glass cites January fire, litigation for financial woes

 
A melter at Cameron Family Glass; the factory was operational for only a few months during its first and last year.

Kalama, Wash. -- An ambitious new glass factory built specifically to serve the Northwest wine industry released all employees and shut its doors Sept. 15. Cameron Family Glass had opened to great fanfare in December 2008, but it was shut down just a month later, when 125 tons of molten glass leaked from a melting furnace.

Forty firefighters spent 16 hours and used 1 million gallons of water to cool the glass and stop the leak. There were no injuries or structural damage to the $80 million plant. A company spokesperson at the time told Wines & Vines, "Getting back to production as soon as possible is our No. 1 priority."

Today, a former employee told Wines & Vines that the glass furnaces were not repaired and running until May; more time elapsed before the fabricators were able to obtain the desired antique color for the bottles. Bottles were only being produced "over the last few weeks," he said.

Approximately 100 employees were let go last week, and no one at the plant returned calls for comment. The following announcement was posted on the company's website, cameronfamilyglass.com:

"Cameron Family Glass Packaging and the Cameron family deeply regret having to close the Cameron Family Glass plant, and are frustrated and saddened by the events that led to the closure. As has been previously reported, the plant experienced a catastrophic furnace failure in January 2009. Claims arising from the furnace failure, as well as other claims arising from the construction of the plant, are in litigation, and the Cameron family cannot presently comment on those matters. The furnace failure, as well as certain other issues associated with the furnace and the construction of the plant, directly and negatively affected the plant's ability to make and sell wine bottles for a substantial period of time, and hindered its operations in other ways, necessitating additional operating funds. Unfortunately, despite months of discussions and negotiations, Cameron Family Glass was unable to reach an agreement with its lenders to secure the necessary additional financing to continue operations, and therefore had no option other than to shut down the plant."

In November, a company spokesperson said that 55 wineries in Washington and 30 in Oregon had committed to purchasing bottles from the 175,000 square foot plant.