Fine for polluting water for 300,000 people: $11,000

Freedom Industries, whose chemical storage site near Charleston dumped 10,000 gallons of crude MCHM into the Elk River, polluting the water of 300,000 West Virginians, was fined $11,000 by the U.S. Department of Labor on Monday, six months after the spill that sent 600 people to the hospital.

One of the MCHM (4-Methylcyclohexanemethanol) tanks was mislabeled “glycerin.” The tank hadn’t been inspected since 1991.

Said Maya Nye, president of the West Virginia citizen group People Concerned About Chemical Safety: “It’s kind of like a slap on the wrist. For a lot of industries, it’s easier to pay the fine than fix the problem.”

Freedom Industries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy because of spill claims. Is has $10 million in assets. 

Freedom president Gary Southern lives in a $1.2 million, 4,133 square foot mansion on Marco Island, Florida – far from the contaminated Elk River.