Reopened 9/11 Victims Fund Now Taking Applications
NEW YORK (WCBS 880/AP) - The newly reopened September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of $2.8 billion is taking applications.
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The fund is intended to help people who became ill after working at ground zero and others whose sicknesses can be tied to the site. Residents, workers and those whose claims to the first fund were denied can apply beginning today.
LINK: Fill Out The Application
The deadline for applying is Oct. 3, 2013, or two years from the time a person learns that a physical injury or sickness resulted from exposure to ground zero. The program will run for six years.
"This is what we fought for so long," 9/11 victims and families advocate John Feal told WCBS 880 reporter Alex Silverman.
Congress established the fund after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It operated for two years and gave out $7 billion. Last year, Congress passed the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act to reopen the fund.
But, according to Feal, there is still one more fight to win.
"We're still fighting to get cancer added," Feal said.
Feal had a lengthy discussion with Sheila Birnbaum, the Manhattan lawyer appointed by Attorney General Eric Holder to oversee the $2.8 billion fund, on Friday.
Feal is so confident in the pending decision on the issue that he said, "I would bet my one kidney on it that it's done in the next couple months."
(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
