CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Freedom Industries and the DEP are trying to identify risks the site of the chemical spill in 2014 could have in the future. <\/p>\n
Officials held a public meeting at the Civic Center Tuesday night. <\/p>\n
Freedom is negotiating with the DEP to get into a Voluntary Remediation Program, trying to make sure the site is safe for whatever company uses that land next, and for the residents. <\/p>\n
Mark Welch was appointed by the court to facilitate the process as Freedom goes through bankruptcy. He says they've spent more than $11 million on environmental matters <\/p>\n
\"Everything is going according to plan,\" Welch said. \"It's just taking a lot longer than we anticipated.\" <\/p>\n
Welch says they've collected receivables and sold facilities, and 100 percent of those proceeds have gone back into cleaning up the site. <\/p>\n
Welch says they've already removed 600 tons of soil and 2 million gallons of water from the site. <\/p>\n
Patty Hickman, the DEP's interim director of the Division of Land Restoration, also addressed the small crowd. <\/p>\n
\"The basic process will be, we'll assess the site, understand what's still there in the way of chemicals, and decide whether additional soil needs to be removed, or whether some other remedies would be as beneficial,\" Hickman said. <\/p>\n
Phillip Price lives in Charleston and says he had a 40-year career as an analytical scientist working for chemical companies. He attended the meeting but said he felt afterward there's a lack of transparency. <\/p>\n
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Original post:<\/p>\n
Freedom Industries and DEP Talk About Future of Spill Site<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Freedom Industries and the DEP are trying to identify risks the site of the chemical spill in 2014 could have in the future. Officials held a public meeting at the Civic Center Tuesday night. Continue reading