EKB News

A West Virginia man is in hot water up to his neck following a chemical spill on October 28, 2004 which led to the evacuation of several residents in Westmoreland, with 36 families being evacuated for eight days. A Federal Grand Jury has indicted 58 year old James R. Holt of Huntington, the former president of Techsol Chemical Company which was formerly located on Piedmont Road in Huntington. The indictment states that more than 22,000 gallons of coal tar light oil, a benzene-based chemical, spilled from a railcar while TechSol workers attempted to transfer it to a tanker truck for Marathon Petroleum Company, resulting in the chemical contaminating nearby storm drains and a creek. Workers did not realize the railcar had what appeared to be a faulty valve. The indictment alleges Holt knowingly stored the chemical, which posed a threat of fire, at the site for seven months, between April 2004 and November 2004, without necessary permits required by state and federal agencies. He is also charged with failing to take appropriate precautions, failing to have his employees properly trained to adequately handle the transloading operation and failure to provide a secondary containment for the railcar during the transloading. If convicted, Holt faces maximum penalties of six years in prison and/or a $350,000 fine.