Federal court documents show that four people have been indicted in relation to the Freedom Industries chemical spill in January 2014, which fouled the water supply for 300,000 people throughout a large region of West Virginia. Former Freedom owners Dennis Farrell of Charleston, William Tis of Verona, Pennsylvania and Charles Herzing of McMurray, Pennsylvania, along with former company president Gary Southern of Marco Island, Florida are named in the indictment. The indictment alleges they failed to properly maintain the containment area around Freedoms tanks, failed to inspect the tank containing MCHM, failed to develop plans for spill prevention and control and failed to create stormwater and groundwater pollution and protection plans. The 13-count indictment accuses the owners and Southern of violating the Clean Water Act, the Refuse Act and an environmental permit. Additionally, Southern is facing a number of bankruptcy fraud and wire fraud charges. For the alleged bankruptcy and wire fraud, the government is seeking to seize some of Southerns assets, totaling nearly 8 million dollars in cash, a 2012 2-door Bentley passenger vehicle and property on Marco Island in Florida. U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin is scheduled to have a news conference today at 1:30 to discuss the indictment and the allegations. He is scheduled to be joined by representatives of the FBI and the EPA.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 16:30:07 +0000
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