Freedom Industries Calling: New Tape Reveals False Statements During Chemical Spill

[steve2470]

Source: Business Week

This you have to hear. The West Virginia Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management released the audio tape of Freedom Industries reporting the Jan. 9 chemical spill that shut down access to public water for 300,000 people in the Charleston area.

The remarkably laconic late-morning phone conversation between a company representative and a hotline operator named Laverne reveals Freedom Industries minimizing the extent of the spill and making several flat-out misstatements about what’s transpiring. It’s safe to predict that this tape will become Exhibit A in pending civil litigation accusing Freedom of negligence and in any potential criminal charges related to the spill. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charleston has said that it has launched a wide-ranging probe of the incident. Freedom Industries and its executives have denied any wrongdoing.

The caller from Freedom Industries, identifying himself as Bob Reynolds, says on the audio tape that the substance being released isn’t toxic or hazardous and isn’t escaping into the Elk River. A containment wall has blocked the spill from spreading, he adds. Both statements were incorrect.

Other company officials and state environmental regulators later confirmed that the coal-processing chemical MCHM does cause harm to humans. Later on Jan. 9, residents of the region were ordered not to drink, bathe, or cook with tap water because 10,000 gallons of MCHM swiftly entered the Elk River. From there it flowed into the public water-system intake a mile and a half downstream from the Freedom Industries tank farm on the banks of the Elk.

Read more: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-02-03/freedom-industries-hotline-call-misstated-extent-and-danger-of-spill?google_editors_picks=true

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Audio tape is here: https://soundcloud.com/bobbybiz/dep-spill-hotline-audio

[alfredo]

1. Now we know why they were so quick to declare bankruptcy.

[MountainLaurel]

2. Misstated?

Such a lovely euphemism for lying

[merrily]

3. Almost as good as "misspoke,"

as though deceit is some kind of mouth malfunction. Then again, when people "misstate" or "mispeak," do we expect them to admit they were flat out lying until they could no longer possibly deceive?

[yellowcanine]

5. My favorite along this lines was "inoperative statement." a la Nixon press secretary Ron Ziegler

Ron Ziegler -- Nixon press secretary whose utterances include this classic: "This is the operative statement. The others are inoperative."

Ziegler also uttered the equally famous "third rate burglary" to down play the significance of the break-in at the Watergate DNC offices by Nixon operatives.

[merrily]

6. In fairness, that burglary was an embarrassment to third rate burglars with

half way decent third rate burglary skills.

I've never heard of the operative bit. To give credit where credit is due, when it comes to deceptive statements, that was a relatively good one. The Supremes should have used it when they handed Florida to Bush the Lesser.

[Brigid]

11. I like "credibility gap."

Mike Royko's personal favorite.

[okaawhatever]

4. I hope Bob Reynolds isn't some poor 10 buck an hour guy who didn't really know what was

going on calling because he was told to by his boss. I desperately hope that Bob Reynolds was a company owner or at least top brass. T

[merrily]

7. Were a lot of people fooled?

Does anyone these days still expect honesty from corporations (or, for that matter, from government) about something so laden with costly dollar liability and public relations issues?

[brentspeak]

8. Now we know what became of Baghdad Bob. n/t

[DeSwiss]

10. +1000

[Brigid]

12. We have our thread winner.

[Sunlei]

9. someone should ask them what happened to the other billions of gallons of coal-processing chemicals

That industry has used over the past many years.