LI cases among first 9/11 suits on trial
MATTHEW CHAYES
AP
Sgt. Michael Honovich of Dix Hills was a Port Authority police officer at the World Trade Center site after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 who now suffers from dizziness, nasal problems, anxiety and migraines.
Robert Galvani of Levittown worked there, too, as a Consolidated Edison driver, and he now endures shortness of breath and fears cancer.
Lynbrook's Nicholas Ferrantello, a Transit Authority maintainer, was at the site for hours on that terrible day and now battles asthma, sleep troubles, nausea and sinusitis.
Those conditions were cited in court papers by the three Long Island men and their wives who are among thousands of people involved in the rescue and recovery efforts who have sued New York City.
Their cases will be among the first 12 to go to trial, U.S. District Court Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein announced Friday in Manhattan.
Their lawsuits assert that the ash, dust and toxins left by the smoldering debris at or near Ground Zero caused devastating health woes because the city and dozens of contractors hired to work on the site didn't adequately safeguard them with protective equipment.
None of the three Long Islanders suing returned calls yesterday for comment.
More than 2,700 people died in the immediate aftermath when terrorist-hijacked airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center towers, and workers from across the region rallied to help. The workers and their attorneys want more than $1 billion in damages.
Among the cases set to go forward are a firefighter who died of throat cancer and one who needed a lung transplant.
Attorneys for the city are expected to vigorously contest claims that the defendants ought to be held responsible for what happened in the chaotic aftermath of the attack.
Hellerstein had rejected a motion by the city claiming it was universally immune from the suits.
The city argues it did its best to eventually provide respirators - and that some plaintiffs are suing even though they aren't sick or have illnesses caused by factors other than the 9/11 pile.
In the case of Galvani, for example, the city says the utility worker - who said he wore a protective respirator "religiously" while working at the site - weighed more than 400 pounds and had health ailments before 2001. According to a filing in federal court, Galvani was at the site for about six days between Sept. 13 and Sept. 19, 2001, for about 12 hours a day.
The first round of trials is expected to start in May.
Click for Source
« back to news listings |
|
|
