In an interview last week, Ms. Nonnon said that she viewed the settlement as an admission of guilt by the city, proof that she and the other plaintiffs have shown there is a direct connection between the landfill and the children who contracted leukemia. The plaintiffs’ epidemiologist, who has done complex studies and was to testify at the trial as an expert witness, would have told the jury that between 1988 and 1996, the incidence rate for those who lived within a mile and a half of the landfill was four times higher than for those three or four miles away.

But the city had its own expert, as well as studies that city officials said showed otherwise. Indeed, the city’s top lawyer on the case, Fay Leoussis, the chief of the Law Department’s tort division, made clear in a statement released on Friday that the city was not admitting guilt.

“The city believes that it managed the landfill lawfully and in accordance with accepted industry practices and that nothing emanating from the landfill caused plaintiffs to become ill,” the statement said. “However, these individuals, three of whom tragically died, undeniably suffered greatly from their disease. In light of the uncertain outcome in front of a jury of a complicated scientific case, the city concluded that it was in the best interests for all concerned to enter into this settlement.”

The case, which involved thousands of documents and complex issues, had dragged on, in part because the city had three times unsuccessfully asked appellate courts to dismiss it.

Mr. Korek and the other lawyer for the families, Mitchel Ashley, said the outcome was a testament to their clients’ “determination and spirit.”

“While the settlement does not replace their losses, the time was ripe for closure,” they said in a statement that praised the city’s lawyers and the judges who presided over the case.