Judge dismisses 138 suits by 9/11 workers targeting Battery Park City Authority

The World Trade Center on Sept. 17, 2001. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy.

A Manhattan federal judge has dismissed 138 lawsuits from plaintiffs who had targeted the Battery Park City Authority over exposure to toxic dust at Stuyvesant High School following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, finding they were already covered by a 2010 settlement with the city and its insurer.

The cases, which were dismissed on Aug. 30, were the last of about 11,000 suits that had been filed over cleanup work near the World Trade Center. U.S. Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in June 2010 approved a $712 million settlement agreement between rescue and cleanup workers and the city and its third-party liability insurer, WTC Captive Insurance Co.

However, 138 suits remained against BPCA for allegedly failing to maintain safe working conditions at a staging area in the high school, which is located blocks from ground zero.