Federal Judge Tentatively Approves West Virginia Chemical Spill Settlement

A federal judge has tentatively approved a revised settlement to a class-action lawsuit over a West Virginia chemical spill that left up to 300,000 people without tap water for up to nine days.

U.S. District Judge John Copenhaver on Thursday scheduled a final hearing Jan. 9. The deadline for claims submissions is Feb. 21, 2018.

In January 2014, a tank at now-defunct Freedom Industries in Charleston leaked thousands of gallons of coal-cleaning chemicals that got into West Virginia American Water’s treatment plant 1.5 miles downstream.

Copenhaver previously raised concerns about terms of an earlier negotiated $151 million settlement with West Virginia American Water Co. and Eastman Chemical.

The amended plan would raise payments for a simple household claim from $525 to $550, and allow $180 for each additional household resident.