Tentative Settlement in West Virginia Water Contamination Case

Freedom Industries Inc., the company behind a January chemical spill that contaminated a major West Virginia water supply for more than a week, has reached a tentative $2.9 million settlement with attorneys representing local residents and businesses, according to court papers filed Friday. If the agreement is approved in court, the money could be spent on health studies, water testing or other projects to benefit the group of individuals as well as businesses that were forced to close in the wake of the spill, according to a filing in U.S. District Court in Charleston, W.Va.