A federal official in charge of a fund for victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks urges first responders and others who may have suffered illnesses from New York City’s Ground Zero to sign up for compensation.
In remarks in New York City, Special Master Allison Turkel said on Wednesday that people who were sickened or died in the aftermath of the terror attacks and their relatives continue to come forward to claim compensation, but said her office is ramping up public outreach to make others aware of the fund.
More than 6,000 people have now died from illnesses attributed to the aftermath of the attacks, more than double the number killed in the attacks themselves, Turkel told reporters in a Wednesday briefing.
The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, which was authorized by Congress, provides compensation to individuals, or a “personal representative” of a deceased individual, who were present at one of the three plane crash sites during the attacks, and who have since been diagnosed with a 9/11-related physical illness.
Those eligible for compensation include anyone who was in the New York City Exposure Zone, which spans the entirety of Lower Manhattan below Canal St., between Sept. 11, 2001, and May 30, 2002; the Pentagon crash site between Sept. 11, 2001, and Nov. 19, 2001; or the Shanksville, Pennsylvania crash site between Sept. 11, 2001, and Oct. 3, 2001.
Turkel pointed out that the fund is not limited to first responders and compensation is available to others who worked at the sites, including journalists, camera operators “those that worked or volunteered in construction, clean-up, and debris removal; power lines and telephone work for example as well as people who lived, worked, visited, or went to school in the NYC Exposure Zone.
“People do not have to be sick to register with the VCF,” she said in her remarks. “Registration preserves their right to file a claim in the event that they – and we hope not – do get sick with a 9/11 related illness.”
President Donald Trump signed a bill in 2019 during his first term in the White House, that fully funded the VCF to pay all eligible claims and extended the filing deadline to Oct. 1, 2090 to give potential claimants time to request compensation.
“Twenty-five years since the events of September 11th, 2001, we know it has become increasingly challenging for claimants to find documents needed to prove their presence at an eligible location, which is one of the key requirements to be eligible for compensation,” she said in her remarks.
Last year, the fund awarded more than $1.8 billion to nearly 10,000 claimants, according to Turkel. Since the fund was reauthorized in 2011 and it has awarded more than 18 billion to more than 77,000 claimants, she said, A previous 9/11 compensation fund doled out $7 billion to nearly 7,000 victims and their families before it was shut down in 2004.
Turkel estimated as many as 400,000 people – those who lived, worked, went to school, or visited the area within the VCF’s New York City Exposure Zone – may have been exposed to toxins from the site. She vowed that her office would push to ensure that “processes and policies are fair and equitable for our claimants.”
“We’ve made tremendous progress in forging relationships with strategic partners who are working to amplify our message to their audiences across the country,” she said.
She told reporters that her office is fielding about 750 requests a month – an average of 25 per day – but wants to ensure other eligible individuals are aware that compensation is available to them.
“We ask everyone to think about the people you may know who might have been present in the New York City Exposure Zone, the Pentagon site, or the Shanksville, PA site during the eligible time periods,” she said. “We ask that they share VCF information with their friends, family, community members or platforms, and visit our website at www.vcf.gov for information they can share.”