A federal bankruptcy judge has rejected West Virginia American Water Company’s effort to block a class-action settlement between Freedom Industries and thousands of victims of January’s Elk River chemical spill, the Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Ronald Pearson approved a proposal from Freedom Industries and lawyers for Kanawha Valley residents for the filing of a new class-action lawsuit that would provide a nearly $3 million settlement that would be used for health studies, water testing or other projects to benefit residents affected by the spill. The ruling by Pearson is the latest twist in the multiple court cases and investigations related to the January spill of a mixture of Crude MCHM and other chemicals from a Freedom Industries chemical tank located just 1.5 miles upstream from West Virginia American’s regional water plant. The plant serves about 300,000 people in Charleston and the surrounding communities. In July, lawyers for area residents and businesses filed court documents indicating that they had reached a proposed settlement with Freedom Industries for the company to turn over about $2.9 million that Freedom is likely to get from its insurance company.
