When I first heard this story on the radio station 1010 WINS here in New York City this morning, my mouth drooped open and I stared at myself in the mirror while shaving. Could this incredible story be true? According to Eric Beck (a supervisor for Taylor Recycling, a company hired to sort the debris hauled from the World Trade Center after the 9/11 attacks), the residual powders from the truckloads brought to Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island were used in a paving-like mixture to fill city potholes and pave streets.
Beck’s sworn affidavit was filed in Manhattan Federal Court yesterday by lawyers representing the families of 9/11 victims in this matter. Norman Siegel, one of the attorneys representing the families, told members of the press this motion has nothing to do with money. The families hope to create a formal resting place for a vast amount of debris that possibly could contain remains of their loved ones, but Mayor Bloomberg and the City of New York disagree with this concept at this time.
My family lost someone dear on 9/11, and nothing of Lieutenant Steven J. Bates of the New York City Fire Department was left to bury. My sister and his family agreed to have a Memorial Service for Steve, but the obvious closure that a funeral would have provided was not possible. My sister has no place to visit now and leave flowers, and it seems she never will. It is insulting to her and to all the families of victims to let them go on without knowing the truth about the remains. It is cruel and unusual punishment to suggest there will never be a proper burial place where they can go to pay respect to their lost loved ones.
Anyone who watched the horror of 9/11 unfold on television that fateful day in September 2001 knows how the buildings came down. Watching the aftermath of the collapse, with people walking the streets like the undead covered in a ghostly white powder, unsettled us all and left the nation shaken and anxious.
I know as I witnessed this I was not aware as I am now that many of the victims inside the buildings were vaporized. Their essence was subsumed by the crush of glass, steel, and concrete being thrust out from the falling towers in great clouds of dust and smoke. That chalky covering that made people living ghosts no doubt contained some of the dead, as did the noxious air they were forced to breathe. Obviously, those remains are lost forever, becoming an integral part of the city by being inhaled by those who survived and also spread in a grand brushstroke across lower Manhattan, the particles lost forever in the corners and crevices of buildings and streets.
Article comments
1 - Dave Nalle
Wow, Victor. Is the landfill really called 'Fresh Kills'? I'd really like to know the origins of that name.
As for the pulverized bits of 9/11 victims being put into potholes or used for other construction, there's something almost romantic in it. It's like they're becoming part of the city forever and helping to strengthen its infrastructure against any future attack.
I'd say the powdered and unidentifiable material should be set aside and used in the construction of whatever ends up being built on the WTC site and let that be a monument to the victims. Other solutions seem impractical.
Dave
2 - Joy E. Goldberg
A nation who sends its young to war and refuses to bury its dead at home.
I'll bet even Osama bin Laden didn't figure just how low these people would stoop.
Refusing to build the Twin Towers back, tho' the majority of people polled, time and again, want this, constructing a hideous Satanicly named memorial over the dead remains, and a tower dedicated to their "freedom" to do evil.
While virtually every politician from every party, every clergyman and every news media have, by their battle wall of silence, successfully managed to silence 8 million people in this city alone.
P.S.: It sure was easy to find a ruler against whom no WMD's could ever be evidenced, and hang him for a scapegoat. Funny how well Osama is protected, huh? And his Halliburtonesque family.
3 - william dufkin
The word "kill" is a word which means stream or creek in Dutch. Many many places in NY are named kill. Catskill, Normanskill, MurderKill, and so forth.
4 - Victor Lana
-Thank you, William, for the info. I knew it was a Dutch term. There is even a civic group here in New York called the Dutch Kills.
-Dave, what it seems the families want most is for Fresh Kills itself to be revamped since the possibilites of moving x-many tons of debris gets very complicated. I believe even Bloomberg said something about turning it into a "park" in honor of the dead. So, the story continues....
5 - Doug Hunter
I'm glad I don't have to understand this obsession with the debris. Anything to latch that anger and frustration on I guess.
6 - Dave Nalle
As I recall there are a lot of towns around Philadelphia which were settled by the Welsh which have 'kill' in the name, which I suspect comes from the same root as the gaelic 'cuille' which means 'wood'.
But anyway, turning a dump into a monument seems unappealing, especially when they have the site of the attack itself which would make a much better spot for a monument.
Dave
7 - Victor Lana
Thanks for the comments.
Doug, the debris is a source of anger and frustration mostly because it may still contain body parts, bone fragments, and even skeletal dust. It's not an obsession but more the neglect by the city of victims' families and their needs.
Dave, what would make sense is to have the debris brought back to Manhattan and used in a mass burial site along with the memorial. The city doesn't want to do that, so some have called for Fresh Kills (which is slated to be closed anyway) to be turned into a burial garden.
The city has revamped other dumps before. Some are parks, others are condos; however, this would be an especially difficult operation to get right.
8 - Dave Nalle
Given the city's inability to rebuild on the site with any kind of competence I doubt their ability to deal with the debris in any effective way either.
Dave
9 - chick_deney
Giuliani should be commended for his solution to the pothole problem and the debris problem. He's using resources efficiently and saving money. Plus he's recycling. Love, Chick Deney.
10 - Dave Nalle
Chick - Giuliani hasn't been mayor of New York for about 4 years. Get a clue.
Dave
11 - chick_deney
Yes, and this article states that this was done RIGHT AFTER 9/11. Get a clue yourself.
12 - Dave Nalle
No, it says that Taylor was hired to handle the debris right after 9/11. There's no indication or reason to think that the discovery of human remains in the debris happened while giuliani was in office. In fact, Giuliani left office so soon after 9/11 that it seems highly improbable.
I don't think you can blame him for wanting the debris removed. If they left it all in place they'd never be able to rebuild.
Dave
13 - chick_deney
Giuliani left office at midnight, 12/31/01. For three and a half months he was mayor--in charge. This article states the time frame of the pothole filler. As for the rebuilding, why on earth did everybody act as if the building would have to be rebuilt in months? As it is, it's 5 1/2 years and it's still an empty lot. A little more care with remains would have been in order.
14 - Dave Nalle
My mistake, Chick. Giuliani has been out of office even longer than I thought, so he's even less responsible than you originally suggested.
I think that moving the rubble somewhere makes sense, and it certainly took more than 3 months to get it moved and start processing it, so pointing the finger at Giuliani just doesn't cut it.
If you want to raise an issue for concern, the question of why it's taken so damned long to figure out what to build is a good one. The lack of progress and lack of leadership is dismaying.
Dave
15 - Victor Lana
Thanks again to all for the comments.
This travesty has happned on Bloomberg's watch. It is not valid to blame Giuliani for something that began during the end of his tenure.
In the weeks after the attacks, just getting the debris from the site excavated took a long time. Remember, originally, the search was done slowly and mostly by hand. Once the chance of finding survivors was gone, then the machines picked up the pace.
The bottom line is that the city (and Bloomberg) have time and again shown their insensitivty to the familes of the 9/11 victims. This is just another example.
16 - STM
I almost agree with the comment that those dead whose remains were never found are almost becoming part of the city as a result of this. That makes the whole city of NY their monument. Not many people could hope for something like that as a final resting place. Still, I do understand the concerns of the family and friends of the victims. It's not an easy question, is it?
17 - Victor Lana
The process has been completely taken away from the families of the victims (even first responders). In the beginning there was some inclusion, but the city and Mayor Bloomberg have basically ruled out many things the families wanted (like names being grouped under company names, firefighters being listed with their engine company, etc.)
Yes, it is a tough question but the answers would come easier if the powers that be showed even a bit of sensitivity toward the families.
18 - Emery Cox
Ask Rudy or Bloomberg or whom ever is responsible; why the Towers steel was sent overseas and not available for forensics study?
19 - Dave Nalle
Odd, Emery. I've read the reports from the agencies which did the investigations after the towers came down and they had full access to the steel for their forensic studies. How on earth did that happen?
Dave
20 - alessandro Nicolo
First, wow.
There is indeed something majestic in this spiritual story.
Maybe the people of New York can have plaques on buildings across the great metropolis reminding them of the spirits that live among them. I'm serious. It could read something like "Forever a Part of Us" or something like that. Place them on storefronts, apartment complexes etc.
21 - Clavos
If forensic studies WERE done before the steel was sent overseas, and in light of the fact that MUCH of our old steel is routinely sent overseas for recycling (principally to Japan, who then sends it back to us as Toyotas), what's the big deal?
22 - Dave Nalle
There is no big deal, Clavos, except in the minds of the conspiracy freaks to whom routine activities like selling scrap to Japan become part of a secret coverup.
Wait, I think my pasta sauce is calling - it has messages for me from Alex Jones.
Dave
23 - alessandro Nicolo
Clavos, I thought it was only Canada who sent natural resources dirt cheap abroad and bought back the finished products at double the price. Well, at least USA has a broad industrial manufacturing base. Heaven forbid we build it ourselves,
24 - STM
No, they do it here too Alessandro. This place is full of coal, iron ore, bauxite, copper, diamonds, natural gas, uranium etc.
Most of it gets shipped out of the place. We do manufacture a fair bit of steel, and of course the coal is used to fire up our power stations and that technology has been shipped around the world (which is partly why we haven't signed Kyoto).
But yes, much of it comes back at double the price - just like Canada.
25 - alessandro Nicolo
Misery loves company. :<)
How did this turn into a neo-mercantilist issue again?