CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A former owner of Freedom Industries has been sentenced for his role in the 2014 Elk River chemical spill. Charles E. Herzing, 63, of McMurray, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay a $20,000 fine for a Refuse Act violation, announced Acting United States Attorney Carol Casto.
On January 9, 2014, a major chemical leak was discovered in Charleston at the above-ground storage tank area owned and operated by Freedom Industries. The leak consisted primarily of 4-methylcyclohexane methanol (MCHM), a chemical used in the coal mining industry as a cleansing agent.
Herzing, along with co-defendants Dennis P. Farrell and William E. Tis, owned Freedom until December 2013, when they sold their shares to a Pennsylvania corporation. From 2004 until the 2013 sale, Herzing served as the Vice President of Freedom. In this role, Herzing had the responsibility and the authority to ensure that Freedom and its facility on the Elk River complied with the law.
Freedom had a permit issued by West Virginia’s Department of Environmental Protection that allowed for the discharge of storm water and groundwater subject to monitoring and reporting requirements. However, this permit did not allow for the discharge of MCHM, and required the development and maintenance of a storm water plan and a groundwater plan.
Herzing admitted that he was aware of the permit and was put on notice that Freedom was required to have a storm water plan. He further admitted that he had the responsibility to ensure that Freedom complied with the permit by having a storm water and groundwater plan in place. During Herzing’s tenure as a corporate officer, Freedom never developed a storm water or groundwater plan, which was a contributing cause to the chemical spill.
Herzing is the second defendant sentenced as part of the investigation into the chemical spill. Robert J. Reynolds, of Apex, North Carolina, who worked as an environmental consultant with Freedom, was sentenced yesterday for a Clean Water Act violation.
Freedom itself, which has been in bankruptcy since shortly after the chemical spill, pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act, the unlawful discharge of refuse matter in violation of the Refuse Act, and violating an environmental permit. Freedom is scheduled to be sentenced on February 4, 2016.
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Key Facts
- State: West Virginia
- Category: Public Corruption|Environmental Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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