Freedom Industries Sued for Almost $3 Million
On January 9th, a chemical spill caused by Freedom Industries caused 300,000 West Virginia residents to lose access to safe water. The chemical in question is called crude MCHM, and was used in their process of cleaning coal. The spill has since had a lasting affect on the community in multiple ways. Laws have been added and regulations have been changed after the community & region stood together to act with the state government. The direct and local environment has been reported to still be having issues of air quality and water odor. The community was outraged to hear that OSHA’s fine against the company was a paltry $11,000. And now, the civil, class-action suit brought against the company will win the 300,000 people affected a grand total of 3 million dollars. This money, paid by Freedom Industries’ insurance, will go towards scientific funding of understanding the long-term health effects of crude MCHM, since it is otherwise unknown. Citizens can opt out if they don’t agree with the settlement, and file individual cases against Freedom.
More Public Outrage
The current settlement news has even more people angry. The logic is thus, if the 300,000 people that were affected took their share in the settlement, only ten dollars would be doled out to each. In other words, losing your water source, being poisoned, and potentially having long-term health problems is only worth ten dollars. Another issue is that the money isn’t even coming from Freedom Industries (FI), but from their insurance company. The only thing FI had to pay was the 11,000 OSHA fine, which equates to about 4 cents a person. One thing is for certain, at least, Freedom Industries will be no more after this debacle.
We hope to provide companies with the tools, resources, and chemical storage products to prevent catastrophes like this from happening in the future. Our communities and our environment depend on us to work together; let’s make it happen. Read more about our range of chemical storage products, or call us at (888) 264-2449.
