Total Injury

Leftovers from a $40 million personal injury settlement from more than seven years ago will go to three colleges in Louisiana and one community organization. A story on 2theadvocate.com detailed how Southern University, LSU, Baton Rouge Community College and the Baton Rouge Area Foundation will be the beneficiaries of the remaining $3.5 million from the 2000 settlement of a Mississippi River barge accident. In March of 1997, a river barge owned by Nashville, Tennessee company Ingram Barge Co. and containing 400,000 gallons of toluene and benzene capsized just south of the U.S. 190 Mississippi River Bridge. Three years later, the company paid $16 million to people who claimed the accident harmed their health or forced them to leave their homes or close their businesses, and also shelled out $16.7 million to lawyers and $9 million for medical expenses and future claims.

Baton Rouge lawyer Walter Dumas said in a prepared statement from Southern University that the funds were in excess of what the plaintiffs were awarded and thus earmarked for the community. Southern University will get $2.3 million while LSU and the Baton Rouge Area Foundation will get close to $700,000 apiece. Baton Rouge Community College will be given $345,000. 

Southern University System President Ralph Slaughter was quoted in a prepared statement as saying that this money will further aid the school’s mission and meet its many needs. Baton Rouge Area Foundation Executive Vice President John Spain said that its share will likely go to one of its educational foundations. The BRAF offers scholarships to college-bound students and also provides grants to entities that address the academic needs of children who were displaced during the hurricanes.