Not all of the victims of the September 11th attacks died on the day the towers fell
By R.W.
NOT all of the victims of the September 11th attacks died on the day the towers fell. The collapse of the World Trade Centre buildings spewed a deadly mix of glass fibres, pulverised cement, asbestos, lead and a host of carcinogens from oil and petrol into the air. Around 400,000 people who worked and lived in Lower Manhattan were exposed, including many students attending nearby Stuyvesant High School. Some 30,000 first responders and volunteers who raced to the area are now unwell. Their ailments include respiratory disease, pulmonary illnesses and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease.
In the days after the attacks, Congress created a compensation fund for the families of those lost and for the injured. But it took years for symptoms of illnesses caused by the cloud of toxins to appear, long after the compensation fund closed in 2004. Many are sick or disabled, and can no longer work. Some are already dead.
James Zadroga was a police officer who worked for more than 450 hours in the rubble. Within weeks he had developed a cough, and was eventually unable to live without an oxygen tank. In January 2006 he became the first person to die from exposure to the ground zero dust, when he succumbed to respiratory disease. Since then more than 130 firefighters and police officers have died from 9/11-related illnesses. Last week the fire department added 13 new names to its World Trade Centre memorial wall, joining the 343 firefighters who perished 13 years ago today.
Thanks to the passage of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, Congress reopened the fund in 2010 to provide compensation and treatment for the sick. About 16,500 people have submitted claims. According to data released on September 10th by Sheila Birnbaum, who helps administer the fund, 7,885 claimants were found to be eligible for payment, and over 1,800 have received money so far. First responders make up the vast majority with 1,582, but 126 people involved in the clean-up and 20 residents who lived nearby have also been compensated.
So far $494m has been handed out, with awards ranging from $10,000 to $4.1m. The first cheque was sent out in 2012, but the pace of compensation until recently has been glacial. Thankfully, the process has accelerated over the past few months. More than 7,300 claims cannot be decided yet because they are missing information. So far, only 24 claims have been rejected.
At first cancer was not considered eligible for compensation, but that changed in 2012. Now more than 60 different types of cancer are eligible. According to the latest data, 130 claimants now have cancer and a further 336 have cancer as well as another condition. Many ailments, particularly cancers, can take years to reveal themselves. The fund, however, is scheduled to end in 2016. The programme that monitors the health of first responders is due to expire by the end of 2015.
Community leaders, first responders and New York politicians are calling on Congress to reauthorise the law. Kirsten Gillibrand, New York’s junior senator, intends to introduce a bill later this month that would extend it for 25 years. It will also be introduced in the House of Representatives. Peter King, a Republican Congressman from Long Island, said at a recent press conference held in the shadow of the new World Trade Centre tower, “We have an obligation as Americans to provide [the sick] with the health care that they need, the families the compensation that they need.”
Although the Zadroga bill had bipartisan support, years passed before it overcame a Republican filibuster and became law. It only passed when the fund was reduced from $7.4 billion to $4.3 billion. Given how hard it is to get anything done in Washington, some are worried it will not be extended. On the anniversary of the attacks, many are now calling for its swift passage.