"Freedom Fires Cleanup Contractor; Judge Sets Claims Deadline"

"Freedom Industries has terminated the contractor in charge of the cleanup of its Elk River chemical tank farm, just days after two incidents in which stormwater overflowed a collection ditch at the high-profile site, sending potentially contaminated runoff pouring into the river.

Mark Welch, Freedom’s chief restructuring officer, confirmed that he told officials from the firm Civil & Environmental Consultants Tuesday he had decided to replace them after a meeting in which state Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Randy Huffman pushed for the step as part of a response to last week’s spills.

'I talked with DEP and they decided it was time to move on,' Welch said in an interview Tuesday evening."

Ken Ward Jr. reports for the Charleston Gazette June 18, 2014.