CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A federal judge said in court Wednesday he hopes to make a decision soon on a motion filed by former Freedom Industries executives seeking U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin’s office to recuse itself from the chemical spill case due to a conflict of interest.
Former Freedom executives Gary Southern and Dennis Farrell asked Judge Thomas Johnston to disallow Goodwin’s office from the case, saying there’s a conflict because Goodwin’s employees were affected by last January’s chemical leak. Johnson hopes to rule on the motion before the next hearing in June.
Southern’s attorney Mark Moore also claimed another conflict of interest, saying Goodwin’s wife, Amy Schuler-Goodwin, served as Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s spokeswoman, who made statements to the press about Freedom during the spill. Assistant U.S. Attorney Phillip Wright didn’t feel that any of these reasons were grounds for recusal.
In February, Johnston had attorneys come up with a list of questions to ask prosecutors to see if or how the spill affected them. The answers were then sealed.
Moore also plans to file a motion to change the venue of the hearing, wanting the motion to be under seal. Johnson said he wanted proceedings to be as public as possible.
The January 2014 spill hit a water system that serves approximately 300,000 residents in nine counties.