Associated Press Published

Residents to Get Share of $73 Million from Water Crisis Settlement

Freedom Industries

People affected by a 2014 chemical spill into a West Virginia river will soon receive their first batch of settlement checks from a class-action lawsuit.

U.S. District Court Judge John Copenhaver approved the distribution of the $73 million to nearly 200,000 residents and businesses.

Anthony Majestro is a lawyer for the residents and says the checks will go in the mail on Sept. 14 or Sept. 17. They’ll include an additional $1 million from former Freedom Industries President Gary Southern.

The residents and businesses sued after a chemical known as Crude MCHM spilled from a storage tank at Freedom Industries into the Elk River. It was upriver from a water plant in Charleston and people were told not to drink or clean with the water for days.