Public Employee Press

Pols push new law for 9/11 workers

Members of the New York Congressional Delegation introduced legislation — the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act — on Sept. 17 to provide medical monitoring, care and compensation to the thousands of people who were exposed to the toxic fumes and dust of the World Trade Center site.

The bill, H.R. 3543, is named for Police Dept. Detective James Zadroga, who died after spending hundreds of hours at Ground Zero. Representatives Carolyn Maloney, Jerrold Nadler, and Vito Fossella joined 46 other members of Congress in introducing the bill.

The law would provide the right to be medically monitored for everyone exposed at Ground Zero and the right to treatment for anyone who gets sick as a result. It would cover rescue and recovery workers, volunteers, residents, area employees and students.

The bill has the support of Gov. Eliot Spitzer, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the New York State AFL-CIO and New York City unions, including District Council 37. “We need additional funding for treatment. This is truly a matter of life and death,” said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts.

While the bill’s provisions are lengthy, there are serious gaps, say safety and health professionals. It does not include cost estimates for medical screening, treatment, or compensation, meaning that the piecemeal approach of the past six years will continue.

Federal health care coordinator Dr. John Howard said that without calculations on the actual costs, no decision can be made on a long-range plan.

“What we really see is a patchwork of disparate approaches,” said Deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs at a City Council hearing.