9/11 sickest score $1.8M

Most of the 10,000 injured Ground Zero workers or their survivors will receive settlements ranging anywhere from $6,420 to $1.84 million depending on the severity of their ailments, according to a chart of projected payouts released yesterday.

The process of applying for that cash could be set in motion as early as today if a Manhattan federal court judge overseeing the case affirms the proposed deal, which would pay out the injured from a $712.5 million pot funded by the city's insurer.

"We're proud to have ended up with a deal that pays significant compensation to those with severe injuries," said lawyer Bill Groner, whose firm represents about 95 percent of the plaintiffs seeking monetary damages for illnesses allegedly caused by work at Ground Zero after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Dennis Clark

Ground Zero workers

To go into effect, the proposed deal must be approved by 95 percent of the Ground Zero plaintiffs by Sept. 30, or else they will take their chances in court.

The payout charts contain 10 major categories of injuries -- including death, cancer, several kinds of lung disease and digestive disorders. Groner said that independent evaluators will assign a number of points to each applicant based on what disease group they fall within, the severity of the disease and an analysis of how strong or weak the case is that their ailment was caused by exposure to Ground Zero dust.

At a town hall meeting in Queens yesterday, about 200 Ground Zero workers heard Kenneth Feinberg, the overseer of the federal government's 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund, say, "I would urge everybody to enter this settlement, to opt in."

"You 9/11 heroes have waited long enough," Feinberg said.

Jim Hosford, a Bethpage, LI, resident who was a city firefighter for 22 years, said, "I feel this compensation is fair, and I definitely would accept it."

Hosford, 54, who suffers from asthma, gastroesophageal reflux disease, sinusitis and sleep apnea, retired from the FDNY on disability in 2004.

Meanwhile, city officials say a renewed search this year of debris in and around the World Trade Center site has recovered 72 human remains.

Additional reporting by Ikimulisa Livingston, AP

dan.mangan@nypost.com