Meehan backs plan to offer 9/11 compensation for toxic exposure
BOSTON - Five years after Sept. 11, the families of 64 Massachusetts residents who died in the terrorist attacks are among those who have received settlements from the federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund.
Across the country, families of 2,973 victims of the attack were eligible to file claims, according to Charles Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice, which oversaw the fund. All but 90 filed claims, resulting in a federal distribution of over $7 billion.
The federal fund was created by Congress to provide compensation to families of those killed and to survivors who were physically injured in the attacks. The fund made its last compensation award in 2004.
Families and individuals who accepted compensation gave up the right to sue aviation and security companies for possible negligence related to the terrorist attacks. Some of the 90 families who have not accepted compensation have filed lawsuits at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, though Miller could not say how many.
U.S. Rep. Marty Meehan is critical of the way the money was distributed.
"The rules prohibited some people from being fairly compensated -- people from the Merrimack Valley whom I represent," said Meehan, a Lowell Democrat.
Two members of Congress from New York have proposed legislation that would reopen the fund to police and firefighters who were exposed to toxins at the disaster site in New York but became ill after the cutoff date for filing a claim.
Meehan has backed the proposal offered by U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-New York. "I would support re-opening and support her legislation," Meehan said. He warned that the prospects for passage are uncertain. "It will be a difficult battle," he added.
While the federal fund has ceased operations, families and individuals affected by Sept. 11 still have somewhere to turn. The Massachusetts 9/11 Fund is a nonprofit organization funded by private donations that provides financial assistance and medical reimbursements to victims' families.
It is no longer raising money, but continues to receive income from Massachusetts "United We Stand" license plates, according to John Curtis, interim executive director of the fund.