Melanie Lekocevic is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the new Lafarge cement plant in Ravena was unveiled during a special event Thu., Sep. 21. The plant modernization project began in 2008 and cost $400 million to complete. The goal of the project was to reduce the demand of fuel resources, to cut emissions and make the facility more energy efficient. “This was a 10-year project from concept to completion,” Ravena Plant Manager David Fletcher said. “It launched in 2008 with the initial concept. ... During construction we employed about 800 people, and we finished in April. Then we began the start-up process — testing and making sure everything works right.” The new facility is now fully operational. The event Thursday was attended by various public officials including U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, state Sen. George Amedore, Assembly member Pete Lopez and Coeymans Deputy Town Supervisor Tom Dolan. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.