The city and its Ground Zero contractors have become embroiled in an explosive rift over who’s responsible to pay 9/11 workers sickened during the World Trade Center cleanup, The Post has learned.
Splitting with Mayor Bloomberg for the first time, the contractors are now contending the city has no financial cap on its liability for claims from the cleanup.
The contractors have filed bombshell court papers saying they could be left holding the bag for “potentially enormous” costs if the burden of compensating sick 9/11 responders shifts to them.
They cite the Congressional Record, which shows Congress gave the city $1 billion for insurance to cover the debris-removal after the WTC collapse, with no apparent cap on those claims. The city sharply differs.
“The statute, legislative history and prior court decisions make clear that the cap applies to debris-removal cases,” Connie Pankratz, a spokeswoman for the city Law Department, said Friday.
Immediately after 9/11, the Air Transportation Safety and Stabilization Act – which also protected the airlines – capped the city’s liability for the “terrorist-related aircraft crashes” at $350 million or the city’s insurance, whichever is greater.
The contractors say settlement with ill workers will be impossible until the court decides which side is right.
Lawyers for the suing firefighters, cops and other workers filed papers last week agreeing with the contractors – and urging US Judge Alvin Hellerstein to resolve the issue quickly.