COURT MISTAKENLY POSTS SECRET SAN BRUNO SETTLEMENT

[xchrom]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_PIPELINE_EXPLOSION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-08-30-09-17-56

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) -- A California court has mistakenly posted secret Pacific Gas & Electric settlement documents showing more than $2 million went to a teenager burned in the San Bruno gas pipeline explosion.

The 2010 blast killed eight people and destroyed dozens of homes. It was blamed on an inferior pipeline weld.

The Santa Cruz Sentinel (bit.ly/PtUn68) reports the documents posted on the San Mateo County court website provide the first public look at the amount the utility is paying to settle lawsuits.

The pages stamped "sealed under court order" show PG&E agreed to pay $1.8 million to the burned teen girl. She also gets more than $677,000 to cover her attorney fees and $19,400 for medical expenses.

[factsarenotfair]

1. It's a travesty that this teenager had to hire a lawyer smf fight to receive a delayed settlement.

I think that the way the "system" works is that unless they had been legally pressed, they wouldn't have paid a dime.