When state inspectors arrived at Freedom Industries asking about a licorice smell enveloping West Virginias capital city, the point person at the tank farm, Dennis P. Farrell, told them he knew nothing about a chemical leak.

He seemed to brush off cause for concern over the odor in January. It was the industrys busy season, after all, with chemical shipments coming and going.

On a brief tour, inspectors and Farrell quickly saw what was already contaminating 300,000 peoples drinking water: a 400-square-foot pool of chemicals, four inches deep in some spots, had oozed out of an old aboveground tank, through a dilapidated, cracked containment wall and into the Elk River below. The company tried to stop the flow by tossing a cinder block on top of one bag of absorbent material, which failed, according to state email records.

Almost a year later, Farrell, three other former Freedom executives, the company itself and two other employees are facing criminal charges in the spill. Ex-president Gary Southern and former joint-owners William E. Tis, Charles E. Herzing and Farrell face Clean Water Act charges for their roles with Freedom. As officers, they only paid for projects that would boost revenue, or ones that addressed equipment that was broken or about to break, the federal indictment said.

Freedoms coal-cleaning chemicals infiltrated a water treatment plant a mile and a half downstream. After the blue-green-tinged mixture poured through peoples taps, everyday life in the Kanawha Valley halted for up to 10 days because of a do-not-use order on tap water. Public confidence in the water remained shaken long afterward.

A lot of damage was done here to citizens and residents of Charleston, and we recognize that bringing the charges doesnt undo those damages, said Cynthia Giles, Environmental Protection Agency assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance. But were sending a strong message here that if you cut corners at the expense of the health of American communities, you will be held accountable.

In a news conference the day after the spill, Southern further drew public disdain by swigging a bottle of water in front of TV cameras and lamenting about how long his day had been. He also faces federal fraud charges related to Freedoms bankruptcy, which the company filed Jan. 17.

During a tap-water ban that lasted four to 10 days, some West Virginians drove more than an hour to shower, fill water jugs or do laundry. They dumped bottled water over their heads to shower, used baby wipes for everything imaginable. The official guidance they received was, unless youre putting out a fire or flushing your toilet, dont use the tap water.

According to health officials, after the spill, more than 400 people were treated at hospitals for symptoms that matched whats expected from exposure to the chemical, known as MCHM. Vomiting, rashes and dizziness were a few.

Businesses shuttered for days, particularly restaurants. Their owners and employees filed lawsuits over lost profits and wages, and many are still trying to recoup their losses from the bankrupt company.

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Executives in West Virginia Chemical Spill Facing Criminal Charges