A bankruptcy judge in West Virginia is throwing open the courthouse doors to those affected by a chemical-spill disaster last year, inviting them to weigh in on what should happen to the little that remains of Freedom Industries Inc., Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Ronald Pearson scheduled a March 3 status conference in the chapter 11 case of Freedom, which owned the tank that leaked a coal-treatment chemical into the Elk River, contaminating the water supply for 300,000 West Virginians. Cash is running out, professional bills are mounting and company ex-president Gary Southern, one of the former Freedom leaders facing criminal charges, has tied up a $3 million insurance settlement that could help those injured by the spill, the judge said in an order issued Friday. "It is time to have the principal parties in interest...provide input with respect to how this case should be administered," Judge Pearson wrote.
