W.Va. Chemical Spill Scares Up Multiple Class Action Lawsuits

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Class action lawsuits say W.Va. residents weren’t warned in time of a Jan. 10, 2014 chemical spill that contaminated local drinking water supplies.

A West Virginia chemical company and water company were hit with several class action lawsuits Friday after a chemical spill contaminated the tap water in nine counties. Plaintiffs allege that a public warning was not made until hours after the water was already contaminated.

Seven class action lawsuits have been filed so far in the Kanawha County Circuit Court against chemical maker Freedom Industries Inc. and West Virginia-American Water Co. by local residents and business owners who claim that they and/or their businesses were affected by the water contamination.

On Jan. 9, the chemical 4-methylcyclohexane methanol was released from one of Freedom’s facilities into the Elk River, which is the water supply for the surrounding areas and contaminated the water in Kanawha, Putnam, Boone, Jackson Lincoln Roane, Clay and Logan counties as well as part of Cabell county. The methanol that was released is considered toxic to humans and can cause severe burning in the throat, severe eye irritation, non-stop vomiting, trouble breathing and/or a severe skin irritation that can lead to blistering, one of the lawsuits explains.

Freedom Industries makes specialty chemicals used in the mining, steel and cement industries as well as for other purposes.

According to the class action lawsuit filed on Jan. 10 by Adelphia Inc., which owns a local bar, car wash and parking lots, the contamination occurred in the morning of Jan. 9, but the public was not informed of the West Virginia chemical spill until 6 p.m. that evening. The notice was made public through local media by the water company in five counties, but the others weren’t informed for a couple of hours.

The class action argues that the water company tried to deceive the public earlier in the day  by saying that their treatment facility, near the leak site, “could handle the leak from Freedom Industries,” assuring West Virginians “that the spill ‘does not present a health risk to customers.” Residents and businesses then continued consuming and using the water even though it wasn’t safe.

As a result of the leak, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency in the five counties included in the public warning. Tomblin warned West Virginians in the affected counties not to drink, wash or “do anything with the water.”

And no estimate was given as to when the water would be clean, causing residents to purchase bottled water necessitating unnecessary expenses.

It also allegedly took residents, who could smell the chemical to get the leak reported, when it should have been reported by the chemical company itself.

“According to media reports, Freedom never self-reported the spill as required by law, and it was left to Department of Environmental Protection’s air quality officials who responded to the odor complaints to discover the spill on their own long after the spill began,” the complaint states.

The leak was serious enough, the suit explains, that the Department of Homeland Security enlisted the Federal Emergency Management Agency to send bottled water to the area as well as tractor trailers carrying water from Maryland as well as help from the West Virginia National Guard.

The class action lawsuits are charging the West Virginia-American Water Company with violating the consumer credit and protection act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive practices conducted by a trade or commerce organization. Freedom Industries is charged with violating West Virginia Hazardous Waste Act. Both the water company and chemical company are charged with negligence; strict liability against and trespassing.

The plaintiffs are asking for compensatory and statutory damages.

The plaintiffs are represented variously by Mani Ellis & Layne PLLC, The Sutter Law Firm PLLC, DiTrapano Barrett DiPiero McGinley & Simmons PLLC, The Webb Law Firm PLLC, Hill Peterson Carper Bee & Deitzler PLLC, The Bell Law Firm PLLC, John Kennedy Bailey PLLC, the Forbes Law Offices PLLC, the Warner Law Offices PLLC and the Fitzsimmons Law Firm PLLC.

The West Virginia Chemical Spill Lawsuits are EJ&K Enterprises LLC et al. v. Freedom Industries Inc., Case No. 14-C-46; Adelphia Inc. dba. Adelphia Sports Bar & Grill et al. v. Freedom Industries Inc. et al., Case No. 14-C-48; Dyer et al. v. Freedom Industries Inc. et al., Case No. 14-C-53; and Kanawha Gourmet Sandwiches LLC et al. v. Freedom Industries Inc. et al., Case No. 14-C-55, among others, all in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County, West Virginia.

UPDATE 1: On April 18, 2014, a federal judge ordered the consolidation of close to 60 civil lawsuits and class action lawsuits over the West Virginia chemical spill.

UPDATE 2: On July 18, 2014, a $2.9 million class action settlement was proposed by Freedom Industries to resolve the litigation. 

UPDATE 3: On Sept. 16, 2014, A West Virginia bankruptcy judge approved Freedom Industries Inc.’s class action settlement to benefit 300,000 people whose water was contaminated in the January chemical spill.

UPDATE 4: October 2017, if your business or residential address was affected by West Virginia water contamination on Jan. 9, 2014, you may be entitled to a settlement payment. Click here to file a claim.