Guilty plea hearing Tuesday for W.Va. executive in spill

A former chemical company executive charged over a spill that fouled the drinking water of about 300,000 West Virginians pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors on Tuesday, according to federal court documents.

Farrell was a member of Freedom’s executive team leading up to the January 2014 spill of the chemical MCHM into the Elk River in Charleston.

Ex-Freedom President Gary Southern has a guilty plea hearing scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

Farrell’s sentencing leaves him facing up to 2 years in jail and a $200,000 fine.

U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin’s office sought guilty pleas after Judge Thomas Johnston refused to take Goodwin’s office off the case.

Sidney Muller, the man accused of shooting and killing four people in Clarksburg in 2013, offered to plead guilty to all four murder charges in Harrison County court Monday morning. He faces up to 93 years in prison.

The spill resulted in the contamination of West Virginia American Water’s water supply in the Kanawha Valley.

Nye said any award should fund programs related to chemical disaster prevention, water quality and infrastructure improvement, and development of long-term health data and prevention strategies related to the spill.