by David Edwards / The Raw Story
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The federal government announced this month that a West Virginia chemical company would be fined $11,000 for a spill earlier this year that poisoned the drinking water for 300,000 people in the state.
According to a citation document obtained by The Charleston Gazette, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) hit Freedom Industries with a $7,000 fine for keeping chemicals in diked areas that were not “liquid tight.”
The administration fined Freedom an addition $4,000 for not providing employees with a proper hand railing to walk over the storage dikes.
About 300,000 people were left without drinking water when coal cleaning chemicals leaked on Jan. 9. A recent survey found that one in five people reported health issues after the chemical spill.
The Marshall University Center for Business and Economic Research estimated in February that the spill would cost businesses $61 million.
Freedom Industries, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, has not said whether it would appeal the fines.
