I think some will also find this thread in Appalachian Group of interest:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1272244
"New Name, Same Game: How the system works for Freedom Industries"

I'll check the Charleston Gazette today to see if they've published any updates.

Thursday, June 12, 2014
Freedom Industries MCHM site cleanup still on hold

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Demolition of chemical storage tanks at Freedom Industries — the site of the Jan. 9 chemical leak that contaminated the drinking water supply of 300,000 West Virginians — continues to be delayed as the company tries to get the necessary permits.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection issued a statement Thursday saying the company is “anticipating it will take a couple of weeks” before demolition can begin, despite hope that the work would kick off this week.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin ordered the tanks to be torn down two weeks after the leak, but that was stalled by Freedom Industry’s bankruptcy proceedings. A bankruptcy judge must approve the company’s financial transactions, and “that approval was granted on Friday,” the DEP statement noted.

Six fiberglass tanks have been torn down and 13 tanks remain at the Etowah River Terminal site along the Elk River in Charleston. The DEP is supposed to monitor the demolition “to ensure all protocols are followed” during the projected month-long process, according to the statement. - See more at: http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20140612/GZ01/140619729/1419#sthash.RihkL8Lp.dpuf

They've declared bankruptcy so no executives will be financially harmed.

I know, I know, makes everyone feel good about this.

"No corporate executives were harmed in the making of this catastrophe."

The rate he's going he's going to turn Pennsylvania into another West Virginia.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025096594

UPDATE 6/13/14 @ 9:25 p.m.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Freedom Industries on Friday failed for a second straight day to prevent a stormwater collection trench overflow at the MCHM spill site along the Elk River, forcing the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) again to intervene, according to a news release from that agency.

“To have this happen twice in two days is outrageous and unacceptable," said DEP Secretary Randy Huffman in the release. "Freedom and its environmental consultant should have a system in place to handle heavy rainfall. If a better system is not implemented immediately, the DEP will take action to bring in a more responsible contractor to handle it."

Friday's overflow coincided with a heavy downpour of rain at around 5 p.m. The discharge lasted for approximately 50 minutes before being brought under control through increased pumping.

West Virginia American Water crews tested water samples twice Friday evening, company spokeswoman Laura Jordan said. As of 9 p.m. Friday, both of those tests had come back with non-detect levels of the chemical MCHM.

Jordan said the company will conduct more tests overnight and hopes to release those results early Saturday morning.

< snip >


http://www.wsaz.com/news/wvnews/headlines/Inspectors-Report-Small-Spill-at-Freedom-Industries-262974791.html
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And don't you love (sarcasm) that it's called "Freedom" Industries. That would be freedom from meaningful regulations, punitive fines or social conscience. In the can't-we-all-just-forget-about it-cause-that's-in-the-past-now tradition of corporations (and politicians) who have fucked over the public, we can expect to see a name change - maybe Apple Pie Industries, or Liberty Inc.

... by the coal company that kills miners.

WHARTON, W.Va. (AP) — Two miners who were killed on the job Monday night worked in a coalfield that had so many safety problems federal officials deemed it a "pattern violator," a rare designation reserved for the industry's worst offenders.

Brody Mine No. 1 was one of only three mines last year to earn the label that regulators have put greater emphasis on since the 2010 Upper Big Branch explosion killed 29 miners about 10 miles away.

The designation subjects the mine to greater scrutiny from regulators, and it's the strongest tool the Mine Safety and Health Administration has, said Kevin Stricklin, the agency's administrator of coal mine safety and health.

"We just do not have the ability or authority to shut a mine just because it has so many violations," Stricklin told The Associated Press on Tuesday.... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/13/brody-coal-mine-accident-wv_n_5315496.html

So if you own a company, you can get away with 253 serious violations in one year (at one mine!), kill miners, declare bankruptcy and start all over again, fresh as a daisy. Yea, capitalism!

. . . if I'm not mistaken, the federal Office of Surface Mining and the state DEP do have such authority under the Surface Mining Control & Reclamation Act. The question is: Why doesn't MSHA get together with OSM and/or DEP and all of them take whatever legal and lawful measures are necessary to simply shut 'er down?

Yeah. Ri-i-ight!

What a sorry joke this is. And Freedom has an "environmental consultant"? Whose brother-in-law got that job?

By the way, do you have any idea whether or not this proposed bill passed the house?

http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20140403/GZ01/140409738
The Charleston Gazette
Thursday, April 3, 2014

Spurred by MCHM leak, Rockefeller, Manchin push national chemical-tank bill
By David Gutman, Staff writer - See more at: http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20140403/GZ01/140409738#sthash.CdA6ZKGw.dpuf

The Elk River chemical leak spurred state legislators to pass a law requiring inspection of chemical storage tanks in West Virginia. On Thursday, the state’s two U.S. senators moved a bit closer to passing similar legislation that would cover storage tanks across the country.

The bill, sponsored by Sens. Jay Rockefeller and Joe Manchin, both D-W.Va., and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., would require states to set up an inspection program for above-ground chemical storage tanks like the one that leaked the coal-cleaning chemical Crude MCHM into the Elk River in January.

The bill passed the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Thursday by a 16-2 vote, with two Republican senators voting no. It now heads to the full Senate. Were it to pass in the Democrat-controlled Senate — where it would need 60 votes to advance — the bill would move to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, where its prospects for passage seem slim. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., has introduced a similar bill in the House that has not advanced.

Days after the leak was discovered, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said no new regulations are needed. (Of course he'd say that! )

but they have the capitalist 'golden ticket' that all corporations have. Money and access to power.

Fact is, the game is rigged. Corporations own the house.

for these poor people - and I mean poor in the sense of suffering:

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They need to grab their pitchforks , surround that plant and make a statement with some force to it.

The people of West Virginia learned long ago whose side the government is on and what happens to people who "grab their pitchforks".

American bombers used against Americans, as I recall

"orders from the famous General Billy Mitchell, Army bombers from Maryland were also used for aerial surveillance, an early example of air power being used by the federal government against US citizens. One Martin bomber crashed on the return flight, killing the three members of the crew."

I grew up near that area in the 50's and there was still a hell of lot of anger left.

Check it out:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1272244
"New Name, Same Game: How the system works for Freedom Industries"

The people have no chance. The game is rigged.

Just declare bankruptcy and set up a new corporation with a new name and run by the same executives. I'm sure this happens all the time and not just in West Virginia. It's a capitalist game and we're merely pawns.