Settlement proposed for WTC clean-up claims

Lawyers acting for Bovis Lend Lease and others have proposed a settlement to a class action lawsuit brought by people involved in clean-up operations following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, US. The case was brought by a total of 15347 people claiming workers were exposed to hazardous materials during the clean-up work.

The US Congress took out a US$ 1 billion captive insurance policy to protect the City of New York and companies such as Bovis from liabilities incurred in the clean-up work, known as WTC Captive.

Counsel for the claimants and counsel for WTC Captive have now reached an agreement on compensation that would see average payments per person of about US$ 42800. This will be put to group of claimants comprising 9232 people directly exposed and 6115 secondary claimants such as spouses.

There are conditions on the settlement becoming effective, which includes at least 95% of plaintiffs 'opting in' to the agreement within 90 days of its announcement today. If all claimants in the class opt in, the total settlement will be US$ 658 million.