$160M in Chemical Spill Claims Against West Virginia Company

When coal-cleaning chemicals seeped into West Virginia’s biggest water supply in January, the city of Cincinnati had a decision to make 200 miles downstream. As the city feared, a sheet of contaminants cruised down the Elk River, into the Kanawha River and hit the Ohio River. Five days after the spill, Cincinnati stopped using the Ohio for its tap water for about two days and relied on other reserves. In late March, Greater Cincinnati Water Works mailed a $113,484 bill to Freedom Industries for dealing with the company’s spill. The invoice covered testing, worker overtime and chemical costs.