UPDATE: Prosecutors Want Freedom Industries President on Home Confinement

Freedom Execs. Indictment

Freedom Company Information

Michael Burdette Information

Robert Reynolds Information

UPDATE 12/18/14 @ 2:45 p.m. CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Federal prosecutors want a former executive charged in a January chemical spill on home confinement with electronic monitoring.

In federal court Thursday, prosecutors requested tougher release conditions for ex-Freedom Industries President Gary Southern.

The motion lists motives to flee. Southern claimed a $16 million net worth in January, then just over $9 million in August.

It says he's a citizen of the United Kingdom and has minimal West Virginia ties aside from his criminal case. It also says Southern can leave the country on a private plane with his private pilot's license.

Prosecutors want a daily home call from Southern, no private plane travel and a secured bond.

Southern, Freedom and five other ex-Freedom officials and employees face charges for the spill that tainted 300,000 people's water for days.

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UPDATE: Prosecutors Want Freedom Industries President on Home Confinement

Freedom Industries Officials Indicted for W.Va. Chemical Spill

West Virginia American Water customers line up for water at the Gestamp Plant after waiting hours for a water truck, only to have it emptied in about 20 minutes on Jan. 10 in South Charleston, W. Va. The lives of 300,000 people were disrupted and schools and businesses were closed for days following the chemical leak from Freedom Industries and subsequent water contamination. (Photo by Tom Hindman/Getty Images)

U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin on Dec. 17 announced that Freedom Industries Inc. (Freedom) and six former Freedom officials have been charged with various federal crimes related to the January 2014 Elk River chemical spill in Charleston that tainted drinking water for 300,000 people. Former company president Gary Southern faces 68 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

Just a mile upstream from Charlestons primary source of drinking water, the conditions at the Freedom Industries facility were not only grievously unacceptable, but unlawful, said Attorney General Eric Holder.They put an entire population needlessly at risk. As these actions make clear, such conduct cannot, and will not, be tolerated.

Southern, 53, currently of Marco Island, Fla., along with former Freedom owners and officers Dennis P. Farrell, 58, of Charleston, William E. Tis, 60, of Verona, Pa., and Charles E. Herzing, 63, of McMurray, Pa., were indicted by a grand jury sitting at Beckley, W. Va. Freedom environmental consultant Robert J. Reynolds, 63, of Apex, N.C., and tank farm plant manager Michael E. Burdette, 60, of Dunbar, W. Va., were charged by Goodwin in documents known as informations. Freedom Industries Inc. also was charged in an information.

Southern is charged with the negligent discharge of a pollutant in violation of the Clean Water Act, negligent discharge of refuse matter in violation of the Refuse Act, and violating an environmental permit. Southern also is charged with bankruptcy fraud, mail fraud and wire fraud. If Southern is convicted of all the charges contained in the indictment, he is exposed to a statutory maximum of 68 years in prison.

Farrell, Tis and Herzing are charged with the negligent discharge of a pollutant in violation of the Clean Water Act, negligent discharge of refuse matter in violation of the Refuse Act, and violating an environmental permit. If Farrell, Tis and Herzing are convicted of all the charges in the indictment, they each face a statutory maximum of three years in prison.

Holder said he hoped the law enforcement actions send an unambiguous message: that compliance with environmental safety standards is an obligation, not a choice.

Its hard to overstate the disruption that results when 300,000 people suddenly lose clean water, said Goodwin. This is exactly the kind of scenario that the Clean Water Act is designed to prevent. This spill, which was completely preventable, happened to take place in this district, but it could have happened anywhere. If we dont want it to happen again, we need to make it crystal clear that those who engage in the kind of criminal behavior that led to this crisis will be held accountable.

The misconduct alleged in the indictment includes, but is not limited to:

During the time they were responsible corporate officers for Freedom, Farrell, Tis, Herzing and Southern allegedly approved funding only for those projects that would result in increased business revenue for Freedom, or that were immediately necessary for required equipment maintenance. They allegedly failed to take action to fund other repair and upkeep projects for equipment and systems necessary for environmental compliance at the Elk River facility, including repairing defects in a containment wall, addressing drainage problems in the containment area, and developing and implementing proper protection plans.

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Freedom Industries Officials Indicted for W.Va. Chemical Spill

Wilders Prosecuted in Netherlands Over Anti-Moroccan Chanting

Geert Wilders, the leader of the Dutch Freedom Party, will be prosecuted over an election rally he led in March that involved anti-Moroccan chants.

The Public Prosecution Service in The Hague decided to prosecute Wilders on suspicion of insulting a group of people based on race and inciting discrimination and hatred, it said in a statement today. More than 6,400 complaints against Wilders were filed.

During a televised rally for municipal elections on March 19 in The Hague, Wilders asked a crowd of supporters: Do you want more or fewer Moroccans in this city? The crowd responded by chanting Fewer! Fewer! Fewer! after which Wilders said: Ill take care of that. Wilders will also be prosecuted for anti-Moroccan statements made a week earlier.

Wilders, who campaigns on an anti-European Union, anti-Islam platform, has attracted controversy since setting up the Freedom Party a decade ago. He was acquitted in 2011 by an Amsterdam court of charges that he made remarks defaming Muslims. Wilders had called the Koran fascist and compared it to Adolf Hitlers Mein Kampf. In his 2008 film Fitna, he called upon Muslims to rip out hate-preaching verses from the Koran.

Politicians are allowed to go a long way in what they say -- that goes with freedom of speech -- but that freedom is limited by the prohibition of discrimination, the prosecutor said.

Incomprehensible decision Public Prosecutor to prosecute me, Wilders said in a Twitter posting. The elite wants to take the Freedom Party down a peg. They wont succeed. Never.

Wilders was questioned about the allegations on Dec. 8, the prosecutor said. This did not lead to new insights. Geert Wilders submitted a statement and didnt answer questions asked by the criminal investigators, the prosecutor said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Corina Ruhe in Amsterdam at cruhe@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fergal OBrien at fobrien@bloomberg.net Eddie Buckle, Leon Mangasarian

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Wilders Prosecuted in Netherlands Over Anti-Moroccan Chanting

Ex-Freedom Industries Officials Indicted Over Elk River Spill

A former Freedom Industries Inc. president was charged for the second time this month in connection with a West Virginia chemical spill that contaminated water for 300,000 residents, this time in an indictment accusing him and three company officials with polluting the Elk River near Charleston.

Federal prosecutors also announced separate charges today against two other people, a plant manager and environmental consultant, for violating the federal Clean Water Act.

The leak from one of Freedoms tanks sent about 7,500 gallons (28,400 liters) of a cleaning agent used in coal-mining operations into the river, contaminating drinking water in the states largest city and sending more than 100 residents to the hospital.

The spill, West Virginias fifth major industrial accident since 2006., forced some residents of the U.S.s third-poorest state to buy bottled water for more than a month.

Just a mile upstream from Charlestons primary source of drinking water, the conditions at the Freedom Industries facility were not only grievously unacceptable but unlawful, Attorney General Eric Holder said today in a statement. They put an entire population needlessly at risk.

Earlier this month, Gary Southern, Freedoms former president, was accused by the government of lying in the companys bankruptcy filing, which was triggered by lawsuits following the spill.

Southern, an executive of the Charleston-based company since 2009, allegedly lied in the hope of protecting about $8 million in personal assets, according to court papers.

Robert Allen, Southerns lawyer, said he was a little surprised that locally based federal officials proceeded with the indictment because he asked that they step down in the earlier case, arguing they couldnt be fair.

They were victims of the spill themselves, Allen said in a phone interview.

Named in this weeks indictment along with Southern are Dennis Farrell, another company ex-president; William Tis, a former secretary; and Charles Herzing, a onetime vice president.

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Ex-Freedom Industries Officials Indicted Over Elk River Spill

6 Freedom owners, managers, employees charged; company takes plea deal with feds

Federal prosecutors charged Freedom Industries and six of its owners, managers and employees with criminal violations of the Clean Water Act related to the January 2014 chemical leak that contaminated the drinking water of 300,000 people in Charleston and surrounding communities.

Dennis P. Farrell, William E. Tis, Charles E. Herzing and Gary L. Southern were each charged with three counts of violating federal environmental laws. Each man is charged with failing to meet a reasonable standard of care in running the company.

Their negligence resulted in and caused the discharge of a pollutant, that is, MCHM, from point sources into the Elk River, stated an indictment, unsealed today by U.S. Magistrate Judge Dwane L. Tinsley.

Farrell, Tis, Herzing and Southern approved funding only for those projects that would result in increased business revenue for Freedom or that were necessary to make immediate repairs to equipment that was broken or about to break, the indictment says. It says they failed to take any action to fund other repairs necessary for upkeep or improvements.

The charges against Farrell, 58, of Charleston; Tis, 60, of Verona, Pennsylvania; Herzing, 63, of McMurray, Pennsylvania; and Southern, 53, of Marco Island, Florida, were spelled out in a 37-page indictment handed up by a federal grand jury that met in Beckley this week.

If convicted, Farrell, Tis and Herzing face a maximum of three years in prison. Southern, who was charged with 10 other crimes, faces a maximum sentence of 68 years in prison.

Also, U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin charged Freedom Industries, the bankrupt company, with the same three counts of criminal water pollution violations. The company was charged through a document called an information, rather than an indictment, a move that usually indicates the defendant has reached a plea deal with prosecutors.

Mark Welch, Freedoms chief restructuring officer, confirmed that the company had entered into a plea agreement with federal authorities and said the move was aimed partly at limiting the possible fines and criminal defense costs if the company were to be indicted. Welch, in a prepared statement, said the plea agreement also stipulates that the U.S. Attorneys Office will not seek restitution from Freedom for victims of the companys crimes, because of the companys ongoing bankruptcy proceeding.

This will permit Freedom to focus its time and limited resources on its environmental cleanup obligations and addressing the claims of its creditors, Welch said.

Two other former Freedom employees, plant manager Michael E. Burdette, and Robert J. Reynolds, an environmental compliance officer, were charged via information with one-count of violating the Clean Water Act. Goodwin said Burdette, 60, of Dunbar, and Reynolds, 63, of Apex, North Carolina, cooperated with the investigation and the disposition of their charges will be clear very soon.

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6 Freedom owners, managers, employees charged; company takes plea deal with feds

UPDATE: Water Users Relieved After Charges Filed against Freedom Industries

Freedom Execs. Indictment

Freedom Company Information

Michael Burdette Information

Robert Reynolds Information

UPDATE 12/17/14 @ 11:45 p.m. CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- In Eric Peebles house, you'll find enough plastic to fill a recycling center.

"I at least get six to eight {water jugs} every time I go to the store," said Peebles.

It's been more than eleven months since thousands of gallons of MCHM spilled into the Elk River, and yet Peebles is still not touching the tap.

"I want justice," said Peebles. "I think that's good, that's what's supposed to be done."

The first step towards justice happened Wednesday. Federal indictments were handed down against Freedom Industries and four of it's former officials. Two others who worked at the facility along Barlow Drive were also charged through an information.

The government stresses negligence in inspecting the tanks, and failing to contain the chemical that forced 300,000 people to be without water for days.

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UPDATE: Water Users Relieved After Charges Filed against Freedom Industries

Eagle named 'Freedom' breaks free of rehab center

SAN ANTONIO, TX (KENS/CNN) - Bald eagles are the symbols of American freedom, and one eagle wanted freedom so badly she escaped the avian center that housed her to get it.

A bald eagle called Freedom lived up to her name on Tuesday. Trouble is, caretakers aren't sure she is ready to survive on her own.

The bald eagle was last spotted in the parking lot of a church near the rehabilitation center Last Chance Forever. The executive director said the bird was not ready to be released back into the wild."

"She's black-bodied, white-headed, white-tailed. You can't miss her," said John Karger, executive director of Last Chance Forever.

She used her body to bust open the zip ties used to secure her cage.

He has rehabilitated freedom for the last two and a half years. She was found in East Texas blown out of her nest.

"She's been learning more and more how to fly, and to be independent," Karger said.

It was just Monday that she learned how to capture her own food for the first time.

"I just know that she's good flying strength. She was able to kill on her own," he said.

He said Freedom is rehabbed enough able to survive in the wild but said her chance of a long life is better if she's returned to Last Chance Forever.

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Eagle named 'Freedom' breaks free of rehab center

Company, 6 employees indicted for W.Va. chemical spill

CHARLESTON, W.Va., Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Freedom Industries and six former employees were indicted Wednesday for the chemical spill that left some 300,000 West Virginia residents without clean tap water for more than a week.

Former Freedom Industries President Gary L. Southern, and former owners and officers Dennis P. Farrell, William E. Tis and Charles E. Herzing were named in the federal indictment. Former environmental consultant Robert J. Reynolds and former tank farm plant manager Michael E. Burdette were charged in documents called "informations," indicating a possible plea arrangement. The company itself was also charged in an information document.

Southern, Farrell, Tis and Herzing were each charged with the negligent discharge of a pollutant in violation of the Clean Air Act, negligent discharge of refuse matter in violation of the Refuse Act and violating an environmental permit. Southern faces an additional 10 charges related to wire fraud and various bankruptcy fraud charges.

If convicted, Farrell, Tis and Herzing face up to three years in prison, and Southern faces up to 68 years.

Southern, Farrell, Tis and Herzing were accused of allegedly approving funding only for projects that made money for Freedom Industries, not those "necessary for environmental compliance at the Elk River facility, including repairing defects in a containment wall, addressing drainage problems in the containment area, and developing and implementing proper protection plans," a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice read.

Attorney General Eric Holder called the conditions at the Freedom Industries facility "not only grievously unacceptable, but unlawful."

"They put an entire population needlessly at risk. As these actions make clear, such conduct cannot, and will not, be tolerated," he added. "These law enforcement actions send an unambiguous message: that compliance with environmental safety standards is an obligation, not a choice. The Department of Justice is committed to vigorously enforcing the Clean Water Act and other natural resource protections. And we will never rest in our efforts to protect the American people -- and our environment -- from harm."

A chemical spill at Freedom Industries dumped 4-methylcyclohexane methanol into the Elk River about a mile north of Charleston. Residents in eight surrounding counties were told not to use their tap water for anything other than flushing the toilet for up to more than a week after the incident on Jan. 9.

"It's hard to overstate the disruption that results when 300,000 people suddenly lose clean water," U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin said, announcing the indictments. "This is exactly the kind of scenario that the Clean Water Act is designed to prevent. This spill, which was completely preventable, happened to take place in this district, but it could have happened anywhere. If we don't want it to happen again, we need to make it crystal clear that those who engage in the kind of criminal behavior that led to this crisis will be held accountable."

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Company, 6 employees indicted for W.Va. chemical spill

Don’t Let Sydney Siege Claim Your Freedom: Russell Brand The Trews (E212) – Video


Don #39;t Let Sydney Siege Claim Your Freedom: Russell Brand The Trews (E212)
Russell Brand The Trews (E212). Analysis of the media and government #39;s reaction to the siege in Sydney, as a lone gunman seized dozens of hostages on Monday. Subscribe Here Now: ...

By: Russell Brand

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Don't Let Sydney Siege Claim Your Freedom: Russell Brand The Trews (E212) - Video