CHARLESTON, W. Va. — A settlement has been announced in the case of a convenience store manager admitting to raising drinking water prices during the chemical spill at Freedom Industries, which left 300,000 without water.
Achraf Assi, the owner of Mid Valley Mart LLC in Hurricane, admitted in an assurance of discontinuance he improperly raised the price of some water products following the “Do Not Use” order. He agreed to pay the $5,000 fine, to not violate consumer protection laws or other applicable state or federal laws in the future and to dismiss a counter claim he filed against Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.
“This agreement is a victory for West Virginia consumers,” Morrisey said. “During the water crisis, we pledged to aggressively prosecute anyone who attempted to take advantage of West Virginians during their time of need.”
However, in a press release sent out by Assi’s representation, the defendant believes the settlement doesn’t represent an admission of guilty rather than a lesser cost than continuing with legal proceedings.
“Mid Valley Mart agreed to settle this matter because the sales records indicate a technical violation of the consumer protection laws and the cost necessary to effectively fight the litigation instituted by the Attorney General are too great,” a member of the Peyton Law firm wrote. “The Attorney General has unlimited government resources which far exceed the financial resources of Mid Valley Mart.”
The original complaint alleged Mid Valley Mart LLC increased the price of gallon jugs of water to $3.39 on the morning of January 10 at its two stores, when previously, the store sold similar gallons of water for $1.59.
The complaint also detailed one consumer who was charged more than $40 for twelve one-gallon jugs of water.
Assi’s representation did acknowledge some price irregularities which indicate what they described as “technical violations” of the consumer protection law, but claimed the Attorney General was too aggressive in pursuing legal action before the business had a chance to resolve the matter.
The counter claim, which will now be dropped, alleged Morrisey essentially targeted Valley Mart, specifically.
“The business owner attempted to distract people from the allegations by leveling untrue accusations against me,” Morrisey said. “It is good to see the business owner taking responsibility for his actions.”
A copy of the assurance can be read here.