New York Agrees 9/11
Dust Payout
New
York City officials have agreed to pay up to six hundred and
fifty seven point five million dollars to thousands of rescue
and clean-up workers at the Ground Zero site of the 9/11
attacks.
The settlement would compensate more than ten thousand
plaintiffs who say they were made sick by dust from the
collapsed World Trade Centre towers.
At least ninety-five percent of the plaintiffs must approve the
deal for it to take effect.
The money would come from a federally financed insurance fund of
almost one billion dollars that the city controls.
A claims adjudicator, chosen by the lawyers involved in the
case, would decide on the validity of each plaintiff's claim and
how much compensation they are entitled to.
The Agreement
The agreement follows a long battle in the courts, which must
still be approved by a judge and agreed to by the claimants.
The announcement was made on Thursday evening by the World Trade
Centre Captive Insurance Company, which was set up to handle the
claims of those injured in the rescue effort.
In a statement, New York Mayor, Michael Bloomberg called the
settlement ‘a fair and reasonable resolution to a complex set
of circumstances’.
Some workers are expected to receive payments of only a few
thousand dollars while others could be in line to get more than
one million dollars, depending on their injuries.
The agreement means that the long-running legal battle spawned
by the 9/11 attacks may now be drawing to a close.
BBC/Williams/Yinka
