It's been a week since the chemical spill in West Virginia and the company behind it is now filing for bankruptcy. But the spill wasn't the start of Freedom Industries problems.
Dump And Run! Freedom Industries Files For Bankruptcy
January 17, 2014

News out of West Virginia, where people are still trying to stomach the water that was polluted by a chemical company last week. Freedom Industries has now filed for Chapter 11 protection.

According to bankruptcy documents obtained by the Charleston Gazette, Freedom Industries problems date back to at least 2,000, when the company started owing the IRS. Since then they have amassed a total bill of $2.4 million to the IRS and have had three separate liens placed against their properties.

The financial woes of Freedom Industries doesn't stop there. The documents also reveal over $3.6 million owed to 20 different creditors, including $648,221 to FloMin Coal Inc. out of Atlanta.

Then we get to the lawsuits. Since the spill last week, there have been 25 lawsuits filed against Freedom, including one federal. The bankruptcy puts a hold on all those suits, leaving doubt on what, if any, Freedom will pay out for the cleanup from here on out.

As Think Progress notes, as this case progresses through the courts, we will hopefully have a little light shed on what exactly was happening behind the scenes of Freedom Industries. Maybe then we will have some fuel for change in how these companies operate.

Can you help us out?

For nearly 20 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but now Facebook is drowning us in an ocean of right wing lies. Please give a one-time or recurring donation, or buy a year's subscription for an ad-free experience. Thank you.

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon