Daily Archives: January 18, 2014

Freedom Bankruptcy Filing

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- The company related to the chemical leak that caused hundreds of thousands of people in West Virginia to go without water filed for bankruptcy Friday.

According to court records, Freedom Industries Inc., located along Barlow Drive, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

West Virginia American Water customers in parts of Cabell, Boone, Putnam, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Clay, Jackson and Roane counties were put under a "do not use" ban on January 9 after a chemical at Freedom Industries in Charleston leaked into the Elk River.

In the federal documents, Freedom Industries had to describe the nature and location of the dangerous condition.

Freedom Industries writes "facts surrounding the incident are subject to pending investigation by Freedom and various regulatory and other government authorities."

The company goes on to say "it is presently hypothesized that a local water line break adjacent to the Charleston facility may have or contributed to the ground beneath a storage tank at the Charleston facility to freeze in the extraordinary frigid temperatures in the days immediately preceding the incident. The Debtor and investigative authorities have taken note of the hole in the affected storage tank that appears to have come from an object piercing upwards through the base of the affected storage tank. Investigations by multiple agencies are ongoing with full cooperation by the Debtor."

Later Friday, a state DEP spokesman said a company's bankruptcy status does not absolve it of its environmental remediation obligations.

The substance released from the tank has been referred to as methylcyclohexane methanol or MCHM. MCHM is used by customers of Freedom to treat coal and reduce the amount of ash during the coal preparation process, according to the documents.

In the document, Freedom Industries said it contacted the water company.

Link:
Freedom Industries Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Workers inspect the Freedom Industries storage facility in Charleston, W.Va.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The company, which is based in Charleston, W. Va., where the spill occurred, estimated it has assets of between $1 million and $10 million, but that it has liabilities within the same range.

The company's filing doesn't provide extensive details on last week's spill. The document says it's "presently hypothesized" that the break of a local water line near the Charleston facility may have contributed to the freezing and rupture of a chemical storage tank that then leaked into the Elk River.

The chemical in question -- methylcyclohexane methanol, or MCHM -- is used by Freedom's customers to treat coal during the coal preparation process. The disaster resulted in a state of emergency in nine West Virginia counties, causing the loss of water supplies for roughly 300,000 residents and the shuttering of a number of businesses in the affected area.

A bankruptcy filing could protect Freedom's assets in the case of court judgments against it.

A person who answered the phone at Freedom Industries on Friday declined to comment.

Related: New health hazard, same story in West Virginia?

The news came Friday as West Virginia authorities announced that thousands more water customers have been given the green light to resume using tap water following the spill.

The end of the "do not use" order for residents in the West Virginia communities of Eskdale, Leewood, Ohley and Elkview means more than 220,000 of the approximately 300,000 people originally affected by the incident have been cleared to resume using tap water.

Read the original here:
W. Va. company in spill files for bankruptcy