A bankruptcy judge approved a request from Freedom Industries on Tuesday to hire a company to help collect and preserve its electronic documents, like cell phones and emails.<\/p>\n
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A bankruptcy judge approved a request from Freedom Industries on Tuesday to hire a company to help collect and preserve its electronic documents, like cell phones and emails. <\/p>\n
The documents from current and former Freedom officials must be collected to comply with subpoenas issued by U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin's office and other agencies investigating the company after a Jan. 9 chemical leak into the Elk River fouled the drinking water of 300,000 West Virginians, an attorney for the company said. <\/p>\n
Freedom will pay Vestige an estimated $42,500 to collect, restore, catalog and preserve the evidence, according to Steve Thompson, an attorney for the company. <\/p>\n
Freedom filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Jan. 17. Chapter 11 allows a company to reorganize and continue operating, but during a hearing last month, Freedom's attorney said the company would soon shut down. <\/p>\n
Goodwin is conducting a criminal investigation of the leak. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board also is examining the incident. <\/p>\n
Vestige has already started collecting the evidence, Thompson told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Ronald Pearson. <\/p>\n
\"They started, I believe, when the subpoenas were first issued by the U.S. Attorney's office,\" Thompson said. <\/p>\n
A federal grand jury in Beckley started meeting about the leak in January, officials have said. Federal hazardous materials investigators in January climbed into the tank where the leak occurred. <\/p>\n
A tank at the company's Barlow Drive location leaked Crude MCHM, a coal-cleaning chemical, into the river. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection is overseeing the cleanup, which is being carried out by Freedom Industries and contractors for the chemical company. <\/p>\n
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Judge approves Freedom evidence-collection request<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A bankruptcy judge approved a request from Freedom Industries on Tuesday to hire a company to help collect and preserve its electronic documents, like cell phones and emails. CHARLESTON, W.Va Continue reading