Half-Million Impacted by the 9/11 WTC Attack Would Likely Qualify for Funds

Lauren Stanforth

Times Union Albany, NY (TNS)

Sep. 10—ALBANY — New York is poised to add a law on the 22nd anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that addresses the hundreds of thousands of people who likely aren't aware they are entitled to compensation and free health care after being exposed to the pulverized remnants of the fallen World Trade Center towers.

The legislation, called the 9/11 Notice Act, requires large employers to reach out to current and former workers who were present in the exposure zones of lower Manhattan and northern Brooklyn between Sept. 11, 2001 and the end of May 2002 about their rights to register for the federal 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund and the World Trade Center Health Program.

The 9/11 fund also assists relatives of those who were exposed and have since died.

The federal World Trade Center Health Program said it has more than 125,000 members who have received treatment; the program offers free health care for life. The Compensation Fund provides monies for any individual (or relative of a deceased individual) who suffered harm or was killed as a result of the attacks or the debris removal efforts.

Michael Barasch, managing partner at Barasch & McGarry, a lower Manhattan law firm that represents more than 35,000 people impacted by Sept. 11, also said anyone who volunteered at the World Trade Center site — ground zero — from all over the nation and world is entitled to receive compensation and free U.S. health care if they develop symptoms related to 69 illnesses that include cancers, mental illness and respiratory diseases.

He said there are about 500,000 people impacted by Sept. 11 who likely qualify. His own firm told employees to come back to work after the Environmental Protection Agency told the public five days after the attack that the air was safe to breathe; some members of his firm ultimately died from cancer.

"Less than 10 percent of downtown office workers, students, teachers and residents are enrolled and that's heartbreaking," Barasch told the Times Union Sunday. "They're entitled to the same benefits as the firefighters and cops."

Meanwhile, about 85 percent of first responders have enrolled in the federal compensation and health care programs, he said.

Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, D- Rotterdam, who co-sponsored the bill, said the act also requires that the state's Economic Development agency and Department of Labor work with businesses and institutions that had individuals work in the aftermath of the attack to inform them about eligibility for the federal programs.

The bill requires all businesses and trade associations with more than 50 employees that operated below Canal Street in lower Manhattan on Sept. 11 to alert all eligible current and former employees of their rights to health care and compensation. Barasch said if a business is no longer operating, however, there is no requirement for communication.

The "Never Forget the Heroes, James Zadroga, Ray Pfeifer, and Luis Alvarez Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act" was signed into federal law in July 2019, and extended the claim filing deadline to 2090 — roughly the lifespan of a baby who was born around Sept. 11. The compensation not only includes those exposed in New York City, but also at the sites of the terrorist attacks at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Last year, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed other Sept. 11-related pieces of legislation into law, including extending the deadline for filing disability claims for qualifying World Trade Center conditions, and establishing a "simplified alternative method" for Victim Compensation Fund awards that involve noneconomic losses such as emotional damage.

The state Legislature passed the 9/11 Notice Act in June, and it's expected to be signed by Hochul on Monday. Hochul also plans to attend the ground zero memorial ceremonies in New York City Monday.

Barasch said it is important for people — even if they feel and appear healthy — to go through the process of enrolling in the federal Sept. 11 programs because the evidence one needs to prove they were in the World Trade Center area — such as from an employer or witness statements — might no longer be available if and when one is diagnosed with a Sept. 11-related illness.

He said the notifications — likely to number in the hundreds of thousands — is something he has been pushing for over the last decade, ever since the first Compensation Fund was established. The cost to employers should be minimal, he said.

"This will save lives," Barasch said.

Advocates are also noting that this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added uterine cancer to the list of possible 9/11-related health impacts. And the CDC on this 22nd anniversary has also opened an exhibition called "Health Effects of 9/11" at its headquarters in Atlanta. A virtual tour of it can be found here.

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