The bankrupt company that leaked a coal processing chemical into Charleston, W.V.’s Elk River in January could reduce the amount of contaminated material it needs to clean from its polluted storage site, the Associated Press reported today. Regulators with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection revealed an agreement in which Freedom Industries could enter a voluntary toxic cleanup program. Previous agreements required Freedom to remove all contaminated soil and groundwater from the polluted site. The new agreement leaves that option on the table, but also allows Freedom to apply for entry into WVDEP’s Land Restoration Voluntary Remediation Program. In bankruptcy filings, company officials have said the remediation program will be less expensive, lessening its burden for cleaning the site.
