Tag: Federal Bureau of Investigation

Feds: W.Va. Spill Company Knew About Defects for a Decade

Federal investigators say a company that spilled chemicals into the water supply for 300,000 people knew about some facility defects for more than a decade.

An FBI affidavit unsealed Wednesday says Freedom Industries employees were aware of a cracked, insufficient containment wall when a subsidiary bought the facility in 2001. A 2008 inspection noted the deteriorated wall. It was never fixed.

The affidavit says that in 2008, Freedom officials planned to take the old tank that leaked and two others out of commission. They never did, and the tanks weren’t ever inspected properly.

Six former Freedom officials and the company itself face federal pollution charges. Former Freedom President Gary Southern also faces fraud charges related to Freedom’s bankruptcy case.

Freedom’s leak last January spurred a nine-county tap-water ban for days.

Ex-W.Va. Highways Supervisor Admits Lying to FBI

  A former state Division of Highways supervisor faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to lying to a federal agent.

U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld II says 38-year-old Edward Matthew Tuttle of Buckhannon entered his plea Wednesday morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge James E. Seibert in Wheeling.

Tuttle was accused of lying to an FBI agent during an investigation into the DOH’s equipment division. He formerly served as a supervisor with the Equipment Division and as the DOH highway administrator in Upshur County.

Tuttle also faces a fine of up to $250,000.

Weirton Police Investigate Explosive Devices

Police are investigating explosive devices that were found outside the Weirton Municipal Building.

Police Chief Bruce Marshall says a city police officer noticed one of the devices around 11 p.m. Monday night. Police examined the device and searched the grounds. Two other devices were found outside the building and one was found between two police cruisers.

Marshall said Wednesday that the devices were bottles containing chemicals. He declined to provide details, saying the investigation is ongoing.

The police department defused the devices. Marshall says they will be turned over to the FBI for testing.

W.Va. Man Charged with Threatening U.S. Sen. Manchin

A West Virginia man has been arrested on charges of making violent threats against U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin and his family.

U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin announced that 49-year-old Steven Anthony Major of Barboursville was arrested Friday. In a criminal complaint, FBI Special Agent Jason Bollinger says Major made multiple calls to Manchin’s Washington, D.C., and Charleston offices from March 17-20.

The complaint says Major identified himself in the calls and threatened Manchin and his wife and children.
 
An FBI news release says Major faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. It wasn’t immediately known whether Major has an attorney.
 
Manchin, a Democrat, won a 2010 special election after the death of Robert C. Byrd, then was elected to a full six-year term in 2012.
 

FBI Visits Company that Hauled Chemicals for Freedom Industries

Federal agents have visited a company that cleaned up and hauled chemicals from the site of a spill that contaminated 300,000 West Virginians’ water.
 

U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin confirmed that FBI investigators were at Diversified Services LLC in St. Albans on Thursday. Goodwin could not comment on why they were there.

Diversified Services received almost $433,000 from Freedom Industries in January, according to court documents. The company had worked for Freedom Industries well before the incident, however.
 
The spill spurred a water-use ban for days.
 
Freedom is also nearing a March 15 deadline to start tearing down its tanks at the Charleston site of the spill, per state orders.
 
Some witnesses, including state environmental inspectors, have already appeared in front of a federal grand jury for the Freedom investigation.

W.Va. Highways Worker Accused of Lying to Federal Agent

A federal grand jury has indicted a state Division of Highways supervisor on a charge of lying to an FBI agent during an investigation into a DOH equipment office in Buckhannon.
 
U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld on Thursday announced the indictment of 48-year-old Barry D. Thompson of Mount Clare.

Thompson, who works as a supervisor at the Buckhannon office, faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.
 
Federal investigators have been looking into a state contract between an Ohio supplier and the DOH equipment office. FBI agents and West Virginia state troopers seized records and documents from the Buckhannon facility in August.
 
The DOH equipment office has about 90 workers. The office purchases trucks, bulldozers, excavators, lawn mowers and other equipment for highway garages statewide.
 
 

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