Workers seek severance from closed Findlay Twp. solar plant

IMPERIAL, Pa. (AP) — Ten workers who claim they're owed about $197,000 in severance pay want a federal judge in Pittsburgh to force a shuttered plant that makes solar energy mirrors into bankruptcy.

The workers are among 60 who lost their jobs when the Flabeg Solar U.S. Corp. plant in Findlay Township shut down on March 28.

Also at issue is whether the company must repay any of the $20 million in federal, state and county tax breaks and other incentives the company received to build the plant which opened four years ago.

Flabeg's attorney, Robert Lampl, wants the judge to, instead, let the company voluntarily file for Chapter 11 protection in hopes it will reorganize its finances and operate once again.

Flabeg Solar president Torsten Koehler said "the overall slow environment" in the solar energy industry led to the shutdown.

WPXI