1974 – 2021

On the morning of September 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 were commandeered by terrorists and crashed into the north and south towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Later that morning, both towers and surrounding buildings collapsed, sending a large cloud of toxic dust and smoldering debris through lower Manhattan.

Supervisory Administrative Specialist (SAS) Nicole Conti was working at the FBI’s location at 290 Broadway when the building shook from the effects of the first plane crash into the World Trade Center north tower. Conti was an instrumental resource at the makeshift FBI command center within the 26th Street garage, serving as a liaison to FBI counterparts, coordinating with various local businesses to retrieve necessary equipment and supplies, and working closely with the photography unit to sort pictures of missing persons to aid investigators. As part of her official duties, she was exposed to carcinogens, toxins, and other hazardous materials present in the 16-acre disaster zone.

Conti was diagnosed with metastatic small cell lung cancer on December 12, 2013. The disease metastasized to other parts of her body, and she succumbed to the illness on September 24, 2021. Extensive research by the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health established sufficient evidence that Conti’s exposure to the air in and around the World Trade Center site either precipitated or accelerated her development of the disease.

Conti was born in 1974 in Brooklyn, New York. She entered on duty with the FBI on January 3, 1999.