the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, It’s been almost 18 years since the tragic terror attacks of September 11th, but thousands of people in the tri-state area are still living with effects from that day. There have been over 9,000 cancer diagnoses due to exposure to toxins during the rescue and clean-up efforts at Ground Zero.
In 2011, over $7 billion in federal funds have been set aside in the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund for people with illnesses potentially related to being at the World Trade Center site. Called the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 (H.R. 847; Pub.L. 111–347) or the Zadroga Act is a U.S. law to provide health monitoring and financial aid to the first responders, volunteers, and survivors of the September 11 attacks. It is named after James Zadroga, a New York Police Department officer whose death was linked to exposures from the World Trade Center disaster. The law funds and establishes a health program to provide medical treatment for responders and survivors who experienced or may experience health complications related to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Last week, officials announced the fund is running out of money and victims will start to see their payouts cut by as much as 70 percent.
Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York president Gerard Fitzgerald is heading to Washington, D.C. today with 9/11 first responders and survivors to meet with members of Congress to announce a new bill to have the compensation fund refunded.
21,000,000,000,000 and counting.