Judge Approves Freedom Bankruptcy Settlement

Bailey Glasser attorneys helped assure sufficient money was allocated to clean up the site responsible for chemical spill into the Kanawha River

A recent article in The Charleston Gazette-Mail noted that a year and a half of wrangling and negotiating over Freedom Industries bankruptcy case has resulted in a final settlement that was approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Ronald Pearson on October 6.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection and environmental cleanup firms will receive $1.4 million from the $6 million settlement — in addition to $1.1 million for environmental remediation included in a separate settlement between DEP and Freedom’s owner, Chemstream Holdings.

The environmental remediation funding is far greater than Freedom originally proposed. DEP was represented in these proceedings by Kevin Barrett of Bailey Glasser’s Charleston, West Virginia, office.