Sep 27, 2025 3 min read

Much like the iconic Thunderbolt roller coaster at Pittsburgh’s Kennywood Park, the past year has been packed with stomach-dropping dips for the Charleroi community.

The ride has been a bumpy one, rife with uncertainty and unfulfilled pledges, particularly for the 250-plus employees of the now-shuttered Anchor Hocking glass plant and their families.

Since last September, when the company that made Pyrex and Corelle Brand products announced it was shutting down the 132-year-old plant and relocating to Ohio, the days have been punctuated by ups and downs, including three closing delays and legal challenges to block the move.

In July, two months after the noon lunch whistle sounded for the last time and workers had reconciled the fight was over, seemingly encouraging news emerged that a potential deal had been struck with a buyer who intended to invest $25 million to reopen the plant.

Community members rejoiced, their hope renewed that the Mon Valley region – still reeling from the ’90s loss of the steel industry – might be in contention for a revival.

Now, the latest twist: A memo, apparently leaked to Pittsburgh news outlets, said the sale to Sediver, a French-based industrial glass maker, had been blocked by the Federal Trade Commission, and the state attorney general’s office would not support the transaction.

Both agencies refused to comment, but published reports indicate it has to do with Sediver’s plans to manufacture industrial rather than the consumer-grade products that were made in Charleroi. Citing the memo, one of the news outlets also referenced an FTC investigation regarding the acquisition of “certain former Corelle Brands assets, including the facility in Charleroi.”

Neither Anchor Hocking nor Sediver is talking, either. Numerous attempts to speak with company representatives have been met with silence.

And it’s not just the media that’s been shut out.

State Sen. Camera Bartolotta said, “Since July, I’ve been pushing as hard as I could, nonstop, to try to get this issue resolved, try to figure out what is the problem, what is the legal issue, what is the holdup, what is it the FTC expects Anchor Hocking to do?” she said last week. “I haven’t gotten those answers yet.”

Borough officials, too, have been left in the dark. In fact, Joe Manning, borough manager, said he was unaware that the proposed sale had been blocked until a reporter contacted him for comment.

A frustrated Manning said, “This administration (in Charleroi) has been trying to actively market that site from the time we heard it was going to close. … The holdup was that I couldn’t get anybody from Anchor Hocking to communicate with me at all.”

While we acknowledge the necessity to maintain discretion in disclosing sensitive information that could impact a potential investigation, we are at a loss to explain why the simplest of questions can’t – or won’t – be answered.

Is the plant still for sale or not?

Daniele Byrne, vice president of the union that represented plant workers, called the situation “confusing.”

“Does that mean the FTC is still looking into it? I wish I knew more,” she said.

The former employees and residents of Charleroi need and deserve some answers.

It’s time to get off this roller coaster and take a ride on something a little less jarring.

The Olde Kennywood Railroad would do nicely.