WTC Families Lose
by
Lionel Bascom —
July 8th, 2008 —
1 comment
A federal judge on has dismissed a case brought by families of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks who said the city denied proper burials by sending debris containing possible human remains to a garbage dump.
The lawsuit, filed in 2005 by a group called WTC Families for a Proper Burial, sought to have the estimated 1.2 million to 1.8 million tons of rubble originally from the World Trade Center site transferred out of the Fresh Kills landfill located on New York’s borough of Staten Island.
The families said the city should move the residue that had been finely sifted multiple times to a more suitable location and have a cemetery created.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, saying the city’s decisions about where to off-load the debris “were difficult and complicated,” found the city had “acted responsibly” in bringing about a “swift and efficient recovery from the terrorists’ attack.”
“Plaintiffs have no property right in an undifferentiated, unidentifiable mass of dirt that may or may not contain the remains of plaintiffs’ loved ones,” he said.
There are no New York laws that require burying the debris in a different location, he said, “however worthy the citizen and however honorable the deceased.”
About 1,100 out of the 2,749 people killed at the World Trade Center site perished without leaving a trace. Full bodies were recovered for only 292 victims and partial remains for 1,357, sometimes only a fragment of a bone, the ruling noted.
This story tells a tale of such grief, that I find it difficult to make any comment worthy of the anguish which these relatives must endure for their loved ones. I just wish our country could somehow show the rest of the world how deeply devoted we are to making this planet a better place, based on our own perseverance after the horrific attack on 9/11.
Unfortunately, the president and his men have established our reputation as one of hostility, greed and aggression. If each American would just take a little time to think about his/her positive contribution, and then, take active steps toward accomplishing that vision, we could be a mighty force of benevolence and enlightenment in this outraged and bewildered world.
Meanwhile, if the ‘debris’ is actually the physical bodies of human beings, then a show of respect is definitely in order.
Jeanne · July 9th, 2008 at 3:05 pm