Text size:

$30 million for sick 9/11 residents, students

July 24, 2008

WASHINGTON - Federal officials said Thursday they will give $30 million to offer health services to New York residents and students affected by the Sept. 11 attacks and their aftermath.

The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control announced it would distribute the money to as many as three hospitals or clinics, based on the grant applications the agency receives.

Since the 2001 terrorist attacks, thousands of ground zero recovery workers have complained they were sickened by exposure to toxic debris. At the same time, New York elected officials have charged the Bush administration has not done enough to track and treat those illnesses or the needs of non-recovery workers, such as the people who lived or worked or went to school near the disaster site in lower Manhattan.

CDC Director Julie Gerberding said the agency has "never done anything like this."

The $30 million effort to treat residents and students is "our good-faith estimate, and if we're wrong, we will adjust," she said.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat whose district includes the World Trade Center site, said he and other lawmakers "fought tooth and nail to see that these people were provided with the care they need. As we approach the seventh anniversary of 9/11, I am relieved that the Bush administration has given up their stall tactics and finally begun to release this funding."

Government efforts to treat 9/11-related illnesses have proceeded fitfully in the years since the attacks, due to disagreements about how many people are sick, who should pay for the treatment, and a separate legal fight between workers and New York City.

Earlier this month, the CDC removed Dr. John Howard as the administration's point person on Sept. 11 health issues, saying the agency wanted to go in a "new direction."

Officials declined to discuss that decision Thursday.

Separately Thursday, New York lawmakers offered an updated version of their 9/11 health treatment bill, one which set more limits on who would be eligible for treatment. The new version would limit the program to cover no more than 35,000 additional people not already enrolled in Sept. 11 health monitoring and treatment programs.