EnviraGlass had taken over the former Heritage Glass assets last spring, and was attempting to take on the solar glass market.

“They ended their business and defaulted on their lease this past Oct. 21,” Dudney confirmed after KEDB’s monthly meeting on Tuesday. “They have closed and they are not going to reopen. They made every effort to make a go of that project. They invested a significant amount of their own money, well over a half million dollars. ... They paid a lot of back wages to (former Heritage) employees who had not been paid previously. They paid a significant amount of past due water bills to the city of Kingsport.”

Dudney said EnviraGlass had expected a third party investor, but that person didn’t come through.

“They had been given a very high level of assurance that money was coming through, and that’s why they decided to move forward and close when they did,” Dudney added. “Unfortunately, that money did not materialize. They had made several trips out of town to visit the investor who had been in their plant and seen their operation. ... That was the capital seed money they needed to make this happen.”

An EnviraGlass release issued last May said that in the first production phase, the facility planned to employ 104 full-time personnel and close to 30 contractors. The company expected having a 90-day window to refurbish the facility prior to restarting the glass furnace.

EnviraGlass CEO Chris Taylor did not respond to a request for comment.

The production facility was being leased to EnviraGlass by KEDB and the city of Kingsport. The plan was to lease the plant to EnviraGlass for a 20-year period with a five-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement on the real estate only.

The glass plant had shut down in 2015 after Heritage Glass officials admitted the company had difficulty recapitalizing while continuing operations.

Dudney said KEDB’s plan moving forward is to attempt to market the property, which lies next to Eastman Chemical Co.’s Tennessee operations.