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Workers prepare to dismantle Freedom Industries chemical storage tanks in Charleston W.Va. on Saturday, Mar. 15, 2014. In January 2014, 4-methylcyclohexane methanol leaked from the tanks into the Elk River contaminating the public water supply to 300,000 people in nine counties downstream. (AP Photo | Tyler Evert)

Residents To Get Share Of $73M From Water Crisis Settlement

By: Associated Press
Posted on: Friday, September 7, 2018

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – People affected by a 2014 chemical spill into a West Virginia river will soon receive their first batch of settlement checks from a class-action lawsuit.

News outlets report U.S. District Court Judge John Copenhaver approved the distribution of the $73 million to nearly 200,000 residents and businesses.

Anthony Majestro is a lawyer for the residents and says the checks will go in the mail on Sept. 14 or Sept. 17. They’ll include an additional $1 million from former Freedom Industries President Gary Southern.

The residents and businesses sued after a chemical known as Crude MCHM spilled from a storage tank at Freedom Industries into the Elk River. It was upriver from a water plant in Charleston and people were told not to drink or clean with the water for days.