Bankruptcy Judge Ronald Pearson on Tuesday approved a loan of as much as $5 million to help Freedom Industries pay for cleaning up the spill site and other remediation expenses that are the result of the Jan. 9, 2014 chemical leak into the Elk River, WOWKTV.com reported yesterday. Freedom Industries' Chief Financial Officer, Terry Cline, testified during the hearing that he had spoken on Jan. 20 with Diversified Services, which is serving as a subcontractor on the cleanup and remediation process, that Freedom Industries will owe Diversified between $700,000 and $800,000. Cline said that Freedom Industries has paid $300,000 of that amount to date. Cline testified during the hearing that Freedom Industries needed to have the situation under control before he could do payroll for its 51 employees yesterday. He said that Freedom Industries had $6 million in accounts payable at the time of the chemical leak Jan. 9.
