Feal and Baumann met in 2002 at a now defunct 9/11 support group. Feal, 40, has had surgery on his foot more than two dozen times and still walks with a lopsided gait. Baumann suffers a host of permanent ailments. He often forgets the names of his two sons, ages 13 and 11, or the phone numbers of his relatives, or the directions to his Lindenhurst, Long Island, home. Blinded by the caustic dust for months after 9/11, he still cannot read or drive at night. His doctors keep extracting tiny threads of fiberglass from his eyelids. And then there are the pre-cancerous tumors in his lungs that his doctors link to the WTC toxins. His breathing capacity now equals that of a 60-year-old; he is 44.

The environmental disaster caused by 9/11 hit New York’s Finest especially hard, a shocking new health study shows.

The number of police responders who suffered from respiratory illnesses more than doubled a year and half after initial post-9/11 medical checkups, the survey said.

For three days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Matt Quigley, driven by patriotism and an intense desire to help, stood in a bucket line on the hot remains of the World Trade Center, frantically removing debris, hoping to find someone alive. […]

The New York State Workers’ Compensation Board, which has funds to help cover health-care costs, has set a deadline of Aug. 14 for Sept. 11 workers to register.

That marks their place so they can file a claim for benefits - either now if they are already sick, or later if they develop an illness. Eligible workers include volunteers and out-of-state residents.

The first legislation that provides both health care and compensation to individuals who were sick or injured as a result of the 9/11 attacks was introduced last week by Congressmembers Carolyn Maloney and Vito Fossella, who have been in the forefront of the effort to take care of Ground Zero first responders.

At the same time, Mayor Michael Bloomberg appealed to a U.S. Senate committee to reopen the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund for ailing Ground Zero responders and to provide the $150 million needed annually to continue to treat them.

Friday was “paperwork day” at the Mount Sinai World Trade Center Medical Monitoring and Treatment clinic on East 101st Street in Manhattan….

In a typical week, the program sees up to 120 patients whose health is simply being monitored. Another 140 receive medical treatment, while another 140 see social workers, who counsel them about their eligibility for benefits ranging from workers’ compensation and Social Security disability payments to available housing.

But at a time when the health problems of World Trade Center responders appear to be escalating, the clinic’s very existence is in peril. Mayor Michael Bloomberg told a Senate committee last week in Washington that the city will need at least $150 million a year in federal aid to continue to monitor and treat those who are ill because of Ground Zero exposure. There’s no doubt the city needs help paying for the widening medical crisis.