The Raina, Inc. Blackrock
333 Carnegie Avenue
Blackrock, IA 50317
(319) 263-8477
Fax: 263-5641
: Bonita Leung
(319) 263-8477
b.leung@raina.org
For immediate release: April 11, 2013
BLACKROCK — Leslie Sludge, manager of the Raina carborundum plant in
Blackrock, will unveil pollution-abatement initiatives of The Raina, Inc., as well as the plant’s environmental effects on the citizens of Blackrock. She will appear before the
Blackrock City Council hearing on April 11, 2013. The City Council will also unveil its air and water pollution ordinance for the city.
“Raina is concerned about environmental problems, but profits are still what keeps our company running,” said Sludge, concerning the 500 complaint calls protesting Raina’s pollution conditions that the company has received in the past three months. Citizens have complained about black smoke spewing from the plant’s smokestacks and the infiltration of waste products into neighboring streams. An internal
Raina study also indicated that Blackrock was the “most pollutant laden” of all Raina’s plants nationwide.
However, Sludge is not a newcomer to pollution problems — and The Raina, Inc. has prepared a solution.
Sludge formerly served as manager of Raina’s Fetid Reservoir plant in Fetid
Reservoir, New Hampshire. The plant faced similar pollution problems, but Sludge was able to convert it from one of the most pollutant-laden plants in the system to the cleanest, as judged by the Environmental Protection Agency.
For the plant in Blackrock, Raina predicts “real progress in terms of clean water and clean air” as early as two years from today, said Sludge. The company’s new pollution-abatement program is projected to begin in October 2013. Plans include purchasing globe refractors and hyperventilation systems, used to purify waste bound

for surrounding waterways and remove noxious particles dispersed into the air from smokestacks, respectively. Raina will also be spending an additional $2 million for pollution-abatement facilities on top of the $5.3 million already spent on improving its pollution-control equipment.
More information on Raina plant pollution concerns and the City Council’s air and water pollution ordinance will be discussed at the City Council hearing. The hearing will be held at the Blackrock Town Center and is open to the public.
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About The Raina, Inc.
The Raina, Inc. is a carborundum plant built in 1900 in Blackrock, IA. Raina is the largest supplier of plate glass and commercial panes in the country. The plant employs
10,000 and qualifies as the largest single employer in Blackrock. 100 workers with disabilities are also employed in the Raina Blackrock plant. The company received a
Presidential Award from the Environmental Protection Agency for its “concern for pollution abatement” five years ago. For more information, see www.theraina.org