W.Va. wants $1.8 million from Freedom bankruptcy

[mahatmakanejeeves]

W.Va. wants $1.8 million from Freedom bankruptcy

Wednesday, August 6, 2014
W.Va. wants $1.8 million from Freedom bankruptcy
By Ken Ward Jr., Staff writer

West Virginia government agencies have filed a nearly $1.8 million claim in the bankruptcy of Freedom Industries, seeking repayment of money they spent responding to Freedom’s January chemical leak, which contaminated the drinking water for 300,000 residents in Charleston and counties surrounding Kanawha County.

Lawyers for the state filed claims on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Resources, various agencies with the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, and the Lottery Commission. ... The claims “cover costs incurred” by those agencies “as a result of the Elk River Spill for the protection of the safety and health of the citizens of West Virginia and visitors and travelers to this state,” the filing says.

The largest single claim was for more than $940,000, filed on behalf of the DHHR. The agency said the amount is to cover costs for employee overtime, water, and meals and other supplies during the water crisis that followed the Jan. 9 leak at Freedom’s Elk River chemical tank farm.
....

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Ronald Pearson has said that, because Freedom is liquidating and there is little money available from the company, there will be only “pro rata” distribution, in which funds from the bankruptcy estate are doled out proportionally to creditors.

Reach Ken Ward Jr. at [e-mail], 304-348-1702 or follow @kenwardjr on Twitter.

[atreides1]

1. Talk about chutzpah!

WV failed to enact better regulations and now they want a payday?



I hope they don't single dime...