It Figures

$35 Million

Amount sought by relatives of a Baltimore fire department recruit Racheal Wilson, who died in February 2007 after becoming trapped inside a vacant rowhouse during a training exercise. An independent report found that the training exercise violated dozens of federal standards. The lawsuit was brought by Wilson’s mother and two school-aged children.

$7 Million

Amount sought in a federal government lawsuit against eight manufacturing companies that used an upstate New York refinery between 1970 and 1991. The money, already spent, was needed for mercury cleanup at Port Refinery Inc. in Rye Brook, a factory where mercury was extracted from scrap metal. The companies targeted in the suit were part of an earlier $2.4 million settlement, but the government says more mercury was found after the settlement was reached.

$1 Million

Amount recovered for consumers by Connecticut Insurance Department in the first quarter. The sum comprised recoveries on 203 complaints, of which $400,000, or 38 percent, came from auto insurance product line complaints.

2.4

Magnitude of a minor earthquake that struck Southwest Virginia last month. The National Geological Survey said the quake’s epicenter was eight miles northwest of Richlands and seven miles northwest of Raven. No damage was reported.

16 Percent

Drop in U.S. motorcycle fatalities through the first nine months of 2009, compared to the same period in the previous year, according to a sturdy sponsored by the Governors Highway Safety Association. The 5,290 motorcyclist deaths in 2008, a year earlier, was the highest ever. The study attributes the decrease in part to a cutback in recreational driving by motorcyclists.