By Patrick Hedlund
DNAinfo News Editor
MANHATTAN — A settlement worth up to $657.5 million has been reached in the cases of thousands of 9/11 responders who sued the city over health problems related to rescue and cleanup efforts at Ground Zero, the plaintiffs’ lawyers said on Thursday.
More than 10,000 workers who claimed injuries related to rescue, recovery and debris-removal operations at the World Trade Center will receive damages ranging from thousands of dollars to more than $1 million based on the extent of their injuries.
A minimum payout of $575 million will come if 95 percent of the plaintiffs — including police, fire, and other workers and volunteers — agree to the settlement, which was presented to Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein on Thursday. If 100 percent of the plaintiffs agree, then all of the $657.5 million will go to the them.
Additional compensation could be made available to the plaintiffs based on how many new lawsuits are filed over the next five years. If few new suits are filed, then the current plaintiffs stand to collect even more from the settlement.
The money will also fund a special insurance policy for any workers contracting certain kinds of cancer in the future.
"This settlement is a fair and reasonable resolution to a complex set of circumstances,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg in a statement.
“Since September 11, the city has moved aggressively to provide medical treatment to those who were present at Ground Zero, and we will continue our commitment to treatment and monitoring.”
The settlement money comes from the WTC Captive Insurance Company, a nonprofit that received nearly $1 billion in federal funds provided though a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Over the past seven years, thousands of 9/11 responders filed lawsuits over deteriorating health conditions stemming from work at the site, with asthma and respiratory problems the most common illnesses, the New York Times reported.
