Individual compensation amounts of 35W settlement released
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The state of Minnesota courts have released a list detailing the exact compensation that each of the 179 35W bridge collapse victims will receive.
The individual settlement amounts ranged from $4,500 to each of five survivors all the way up to more than $2 million for a woman who suffered serious brain damage.
Susan Holden is the Minneapolis attorney who led the special three-person panel who listened to the victims and made the settlement offers.
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"I think it was a really constructive way to resolve the claims of the people and to alleviate some of the human suffering that resulted," Holden said. "So I think it was a great opportunity for the state, and that the Legislature really stepped up to help resolve some of those claims and ease some of the suffering and the burdens that the people invovled in the collapse have endured."
Five other settlements were worth more than $1 million.
The settlements come from a special victims fund of nearly $37 million set up by legislators.
Thursday was the deadline for offers to be accepted or rejected, but victims had little reason to reject the settlements since state law limited Minnesota's liability for the collapse.
Some victims have also filed suit against an engineering company and construction contractor that worked on the bridge. Their attorneys have said they hope to win more than $100 million in additional compensation.
Thirteen people were killed and 145 injured in the collapse on Aug. 1, 2007.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
