Associated Press Published

Lawyer: Putnam Business Owner Didn't Price Gouge After W.Va. Spill

putnam.png

A Putnam County store owner’s lawyer says his client didn’t illegally raise water prices following a chemical spill.
 
Lawyer Tom Peyton tells the Charleston Gazette that Achraf Assi gave away water after the Jan. 9 spill left 300,000 people in nine counties without useable tap water.
 
Attorney General Patrick Morrissey filed an enforcement action on Friday in Putnam County Circuit Court against Assi’s business, Hurricane-based Mid Valley Mart LLC. Morrisey alleges that Mid Valley Mart more than doubled prices for one-gallon water jugs at two Hurricane stores.
 
It’s illegal in West Virginia to raise prices on essential products and services by more than 10 percent in a state of emergency.