Judge to hear plan to pay $657M to WTC responders

Ground Zero workers get $657 mln compensation deal AFP/File – Firemen and rescue personnel work at the site of the World Trade Center in New York in September 2001. …

* Ground Zero Slideshow:Ground Zero
* Judge To Hear Plan To Pay $657M To WTC Responders Play Video Video:Judge To Hear Plan To Pay $657M To WTC Responders CBS 2 New York
* Newly Released Photos of 9/11 Play Video Video:Newly Released Photos of 9/11 ABC News

By DAVID B. CARUSO, Associated Press Writer David B. Caruso, Associated Press Writer – 12 mins ago

NEW YORK – A settlement that could pay up to $657.5 million to more than 10,000 ground zero rescue and recovery workers sickened by dust from the destroyed World Trade Center goes before a judge Friday, and he has said he favored a settlement but planned to analyze it carefully to make sure it was fair.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the proposal fair, a sentiment echoed by one of the negotiators of the deal that was announced Thursday night after years of fighting in court.

"I think it's a good settlement for everybody," Bloomberg said Friday on his weekly radio show. "This takes care of civilians and uniform service members, it takes care of the private contractors who were brought in. ... So I think it's fair and reasonable given the circumstances. We've been working on this for a long time."

The settlement agreed upon by lawyers representing the city, construction companies and the workers was announced by WTC Captive Insurance Co., a special entity established to indemnify the city and its contractors against potential legal action as they moved to clean up the site after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Both sides were scheduled to appear before the federal judge handling the litigation, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who must approve the deal along with the workers themselves. For the settlement to be enforced, 95 percent of the workers would need to agree to be bound by its terms.