The
city will soon
transport six to
seven truckloads of
possible World Trade
Center remains for
hand sifting at the
shuttered Fresh
Kills landfill,
Borough President
James Molinaro said
today.
Molinaro said he was
notified by city
Sanitation officials
last week of the
transfer in the
coming weeks of some
844 cubic yards of
material from a
sub-basement of one
of the towers. He
said he was not told
which one.
In a memo obtained
by the Advance
today, authored by
Deputy Mayor of
Operations Edward
Skyler, Skyler said
the material “was
excavated over the
past two years from
the following areas
in and around the
WTC site: NY State
Route 9A (West
Street); the Haul
Road; Cedar Street;
Washington Street;
Vesey Street; the
rooftop of Fiterman
Hall, and various
subterranean
structures.”
The hand-sifting for
human remains will
begin in April and
be completed in
early July, said
Ellen Borakove, a
spokeswoman for the
Office of the Chief
Medical Examiner (OCME),
which will oversee
the operation at a
cost of $1.4
million.
The Skyler memo says
the OCME will
“utilize its
forensic mobile
sifting platform” at
Fresh Kills.
“Anthropologists and
other trained
professionals will
carefully evaluate
and search the
estimated 844 cy of
material gathered
since December 2007
for any potential
remains,” the memo
says. “Any potential
remains recovered
will proceed to OCME
laboratories for
further testing.”
An estimated 1,123
victims who were
slaughtered by
terrorists on Sept.
11, 2001 have not
had their remains
identified.
“I am sure they have
located some remains
for them to want to
continue to
hand-screen,” said
Molinaro.
Molinaro said he
thought the
examination of the
material, which he
said has been stored
under two secured
tents at Ground Zero
and will be
transferred in
sealed containers,
could help bring
closure to some
families.
But Lydia Mozzillo
of Oakwood, who lost
her firefighter son
Christopher, said,
“There is no closure
for us. We never got
Christopher back.
But I know for some
families there would
be closure, and it
would be nice if
there was.”
