Victim Compensation Fund

In the moments, days, weeks and months following the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center (WTC) in 2001, clouds of dust enveloped Lower Manhattan. As the debris was cleared from the site, that same dust found its way to the Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island. Thousands of first responders inhaled this dust, […]

Every quarter, the Centers for Disease Control publishes a report that gives a picture of the activities of the World Trade Center Health Program. The program was created as part of the Zadroga Act to provide free health monitoring and treatment for responders and survivors of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Those eligible to enroll include […]

As the years have gone by since the 9/11 disaster, studies have repeatedly demonstrated an increased rate of many cancers among emergency responders and other survivors who had breathed the toxic dust at Ground Zero. Except one. Somewhat surprisingly, statistics show 9/11 responders have experienced a lower rate of lung cancer than would be expected […]

It is simply human nature, indicated the director of a Washington-based victim-support organization, for people to put off taking action until a deadline looms. Just look at the tax-filing ordeal many put themselves through every April. So it was no wonder, she concluded, that until the compensation fund deadline was imminent, the response was lower […]

Two programs provide relief to responders, recovery workers and others injured during the September 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States or by exposure to debris afterward. These two programs are the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) and the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP). Although both programs were established by the same legislation, […]

Although it began payout to victims again in January of this year, the World Trade Center September 11 Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) will not likely ever be able to fully compensate each victim. While vested with over $2 billion for illness and injury caused in the attack, the number of claims made against that sum […]