Jim Lewis, Charleston Priest And Activist, Dies At 90
A longtime Charleston priest, activist and central figure in one of West Virginia’s most turbulent cultural conflicts has died. The Rev. Jim Lewis was 90.
Continue Reading Take Me to More News
Six former Freedom Industries officials are set to be sentenced this month on pollution charges two years after a chemical spill into the Elk River in Charleston fouled the drinking water supply of 300,000 West Virginians.
The first to be sentenced are ex-Freedom plant manager Michael Burdette on Monday and environmental consultant Robert Reynolds on Wednesday. Each faces up to a year in prison and a minimum $2,500 fine.
The company itself faces up to $900,000 in fines. Sentencings also are later this month for ex-Freedom officials William Tis, Charles Herzing, Dennis Farrell and, lastly, Gary Southern.
Southern faces the harshest penalty: up to three years in prison and $300,000 in fines.
Ex-U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin says the spill was “a wake-up call” to the vulnerability of tap water systems.