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Virginia settles with Interstate 81 contractor fired after 2009 snowstorm

State agrees to pay more than two million dollars "to avoid the cost of litigation"

Joe Dashiell

Reporter

8:29 PM EDT, June 30, 2011

ROANOKE, Va.

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The state has agreed to pay more than two million dollars to the private contractor it fired after a major snowstorm snarled traffic on Interstate 81.
 
Infrastructure Corporation of America had a five-year 56 million dollar contract to clear the interstate from Pulaski County to Staunton.

The state terminated the contract after the snowstorm in December 2009, when hundreds of drivers were stranded in the deep snow.

Governor Bob McDonnell approved the settlement late last year. A spokesman for the Virginia Department of Transportation says the state paid ICA 2.2 million dollars to "avoid the cost of litigation."