CHARLESTON, W.Va–The Voluntary Remediation Agreement between the West Virginia DEP and Freedom Industries to clean up the site of a 2014 crude MCHM spill was finalized Monday evening.
The DEP signed off on the agreement Friday and was sent to Freedom’s chief restructuring officer Monday evening. The agreement says that Freedom will work with the DEP to identify health and environmental risks associated with the site’s use in the future, and establish appropriate remediation standards.
Upon completion of the program, Freedom will submit a final report to the Office of Environmental Remediation to be approved. The agreement outlines deadlines, work plans, a schedule for work that must be done and when it should be completed, and terms for termination of the agreement. The agreement also gives the DEP the right to bring action against Freedom for violations other than those outlined in the work plan.
The January 2014 MCHM spill also released a material known as PPH, and contaminated a drinking water system that serves 300,000 state residents. Freedom was ordered to cease operation of the site as a storage area in response to the spill.