Z
Zhu Rong
Guest
Sick Sept 11 workers agree to $712 million settlement
NEW YORK | Fri Nov 19, 2010 2:06pm EST
NEW YORK (Reuters) - More than 10,000 workers suffering health problems stemming from the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center have agreed to a $712 million settlement with New York City, officials said on Friday.
More than 95 percent of the 10,563 workers had to agree to the deal for it to go ahead. The Garretson Resolution Group, which has been assessing the claims, said in a letter to the federal judge overseeing the case that 95.1 percent of the workers -- 10,043 -- had submitted documents agreeing to the settlement.
The money will come from a federally financed insurance fund, the WTC Captive Insurance Company, created in 2004 with a $1 billion grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The firefighters, police, contractors and others who worked at "Ground Zero" in the ruins of the World Trade Center sued the city and its contractors for claims of injuries associated with their rescue and clean-up work.
