A new retroactive window has opened up for people suffering from the aftermath of 9/11 and who had missed the deadline to apply for the September 11^th Victims Compensation Fund.

First responders and those who lived and worked near Ground Zero who became ill with a 9/11-related illness had two years from the date of diagnosis or death of a family member to apply for financial assistance.

Because many people didn’t know of the deadline, the passing of the “Never Forget the Heroes Act” allows people to have until July 29, 2021 to apply for the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund. Special Master Rupa Bhattacharyya announced the extension in mid-February.

The passing of the Heroes Act also ensures the compensation fund remains permanent through 2090. Prior to the passage of the law, the fund had been running low on money, and many applicants received reduced benefits. Those reductions have now been fully restored.

Even people who are not sick are allowed to register for the fund because it saves their place in the system if they later develop a disease related to 9/11 exposures to toxins. The fund was established to provide compensation for losses suffered by people who were injured or the relatives of those killed because of the terrorist attacks that occurred Sept. 11, 2001. The fund also provides assistance for anyone who has suffered illness related to the clean-up and debris removal efforts at the time.

Anyone who lived, worked or went to school in the area defined as Manhattan south of the line that runs along Canal Street from the Hudson River to the intersection of Canal Street and East Broadway, north on East Broadway to Clinton Street, and east on Clinton Street to the East River could develop a 9/11-related illness. Areas that were along the routes of debris removal, including those who worked on barges and at the Fresh Kills landfill are covered, too. The designated time period for qualifying exposure to 9/11-related toxins is between Sept. 11, 2001 and May 31, 2002.

September 11^th Victims Compensation Fund Still Needed

Despite years of healing from the wounds inflicted on the country on 9/11, some of the weaponized carcinogens continue to cause damage.

The New York Post wrote of retired FDNY firefighter Daniel Foley, who died on Feb. 22. Foley and his older brother Thomas, also a firefighter, were among the heroes who went to help rescue people from the World Trade Center after the Twin Towers were hit by terrorist-flown, hijacked airplanes. Thomas, just 32 years old, died in the line of duty Sept. 11, 2001.

Foley, 46, died of pancreatic cancer that’s been linked to the exposure of toxic chemicals during the 9/11 immediate aftermath.

More than 91,000 liters of jet fuel and 10,000,000 tons of crushed building materials burned at more than 1,000 degrees Celsius, says a report from Scientific American. Asbestos, glass, benzene, lead, silica, PCBs and dioxins from burning plastics are just a few of the toxic substances identified in the debris.

EPA scientists said the dioxin levels in the air “were the highest ambient measurements of dioxin ever recorded anywhere in the world,” measuring 100 times higher than the number of dioxins found near a trash incinerator.

More than 70 types of cancer are among the many illnesses that qualify for the September 11^th Victims Compensation Fund program.