NEW YORK, NY October 18, 2006 —A federal judge has denied claims by the city and Port Authority that they should not be held liable for the health problems suffered by emergency and construction workers at the World Trade Center site. WNYC’s Fred Mogul has more.

The city and Port Authority requested that the case be dismissed and they should be granted immunity from lawsuits filed by thousands of people with debilitating coughs and other complications. Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein said the case should proceed rather than be dismissed.

He did not rule out immunity but said it was too early to tell if it was warranted. Hellerstein partly blamed the plaintiffs this, saying their attorneys had not laid out their case with enough details about individuals and their health conditions. He wrote that the claims “fail to satisfy even the most basic requirement of notice pleading” and that “Defendants have a right to know which plaintiffs are suing them and on what basis.”

Paul Napoli, one of the attorneys for the workers, says that more than 6,000 cases he represents have been painstakingly detailed and his firm will provide even more information to the court in the coming days.