Judge stops $75M state payment to SC private law firms

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – A judge has temporarily blocked private attorneys from receiving $75 million from South Carolina for helping the state negotiate a settlement with the federal government over nuclear material left at the Savannah River Site.

The ruling Wednesday is in effect for two days.

A judge promises by Friday she will rule if the payments can be blocked longer while the lawsuit by the South Carolina Public Interest Foundation continues.

The group calls the fees astronomical.

The fees make up 12.5% of the $600 million settlement Attorney General Alan Wilson negotiated with the federal government over the failure to remove plutonium from the site near Aiken by the federal deadlines.