CHARLESTON, W.Va. Tucked between the Elk River and Charleston's hilltop airport, a tank cluster that leaked chemicals into the drinking water of 300,000 people shows few signs that it's on the brink of destruction.

Freedom Industries hit a deadline Saturday to start scrapping its chemical storage headquarters, a state order deemed both protective and symbolic. On Jan. 9, one of the company's 17 tanks oozed little-known liquids into the river below, and, eventually, into the water plant 1.5 miles downstream. Nine counties couldn't use their water for up to 10 days.

Crews have carved a small patch out of one tank to remove chemical remnants inside, which state regulators have counted as meeting the deconstruction deadline. The tanks will be stripped down and sold for scrap metal. And at a date yet to be determined, the Freedom Industries site will be rendered unrecognizable along the river it polluted.

"It's symbolic, certainly," said Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Randy Huffman. "Not allowing a facility like that to ever be in that location again will also ensure that you won't have impacts from that site ever again to our water intake."

Public confidence remains shaky in the water supply and those tasked with protecting it. The disaster sparked sufficient outrage to prompt a rewrite of West Virginia law for owning aboveground storage tanks particularly, ones close enough to a water supply to do damage.

Beverly Hager, who lives a block away from the tank farm, considered moving with her 6-month-old son and husband right after the spill. She said knocking down Freedom Industries provides some piece of mind.

"It shouldn't be that close to a water source to begin with," Hager said.

Federal officials are treating Freedom Industries like a possible crime scene and are still gathering evidence. U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin assured safeguards are in place to collect what investigators need. FBI agents scoped out the faulty tank from the inside on Jan. 28, and visited the company's chemical hauling contractor, Diversified Services, on March 7. Some witnesses appeared in front of a grand jury last month.

The federal Chemical Safety Board has its own investigation.

Freedom Industries faces strict orders to let stakeholders know what they're doing on site. The company has to give a 48 hour notice to state environmental regulators and parties involved in various lawsuits and bankruptcy proceedings.

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Months after spill, Freedom Industries tanks coming down