CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The company at the center of the West Virginia water emergency filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Charleston.
Freedom Industries said it can’t pay its bills because those it does business with are demanding cash payments because of the leak.
(Read Freedom’s bankruptcy filing here)
In the filing, Freedom said it’s been hypothesized that a water line break near its facility on Barlow Drive caused the ground below its chemical tank to freeze causing the leak from the tank.
Freedom has said it believes 7,500 gallons of crude MCHM leaked.
U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin said Friday the bankruptcy filing would have no impact on his ongoing federal criminal investigation.