U.S. District Court Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in Manhattan scuttled a proposed settlement of lawsuits filed by more than 10,000 Ground Zero workers seeking compensation for health problems triggered by their exposure to ash and dust spewed into the air after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  The litigation has lasted over eight years and in the proposed settlement would have paid plaintiffs $657.5 million using money from a federally funded insurance company.  Judge Hellerstein said the settlement was not enough and he was taking “judicial control” over the settlement, according to reports by the New York Times.  Judge Hellerstein expressed concern over the attorney fees, saying the proposed one-third attorney fees would take “a very large bite” out of the settlement to go to thousand of rescue workers who braved their lives in this nation’s worst terrorist attack.