CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A former Freedom Industries executive is due in federal court for sentencing on a pollution charge in a chemical spill that fouled the drinking water supply of 300,000 West Virginians.
Dennis Farrell pleaded guilty in August to a deal that includes up to two years in prison and a $200,000 fine. His sentencing is set for Thursday in Charleston.
Four other ex-Freedom officials have been sentenced to probation and ordered to pay fines. Ex-company President Gary Southern is scheduled to be sentenced next week.
In January 2014, the leak of coal-cleaning chemicals into the water supply spurred a tap-water ban across nine counties for days.
The company, which filed bankruptcy eight days after the spill, was fined $900,000, although a federal judge said the fine was symbolic.