Eastman and Water Firm to Pay up to $151 Million
US chemical producer Eastman and water utility Virginia American Water have agreed to pay up to $151 million in total to settle a class action lawsuit brought against the companies on behalf of more than 200,000 West Virginia residents whose water was contaminated by a chemical spill in January 2014. The final sum was announced late on Nov.1 after a settlement with the water company was reached. Eastman had settled days earlier.
In the federal case, the coal-cleaning chemical methylcyclohexyl methanol (MCHM) manufactured by Eastman was accidently released from a storage tank at the now insolvent Freedom Industries into the Elk River, contaminating the city’s water reservoirs.
A case being heard by the West Virginia state court system, which names Freedom as a defendant, is still pending. The insolvent company was not named in the federal suits.
