WTC FAMILIES FOR PROPER BURIAL

 New Jersey       

 Governor

   Jon Corzine

      Statement

          (9/9/06)

"As we remember the cowardly attack against our nation five years ago, foremost in our minds is a commitment to honor the memory of the victims. In order to live up to that moral obligation, we must ensure that all the victims have received a proper and dignified burial.  Together we embrace that fundamental right."

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 UNCONSECRATED GROUND  - FRESH KILLS 

HOW LONG WILL THEIR REMAINS BE DENIED  BY A CITY THAT DOES WELCOME THE DEAD

THE CLOCK COUNTS THE NUMBER OF DAYS HOURS MINUTES AND SECONDS THAT HAVE PASSED SINCE SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 . THE AMOUNT OF TIME THAT THE ASHEN REMAINS OF THOSE LOST HAVE BEEN IN THE LAND FILL , FRESH KILLS

     REMAIN

   REMAINS UPDATE  

 Update as published in The Voices E-Newsletter       dated 3/30/2007

Medical Examiner, Contractors Said Remains "Certain" At Fresh Kills

In a response to a motion to dismiss their lawsuit against the City, plaintiffs led by WTC Families for Proper Burial released a series of stunning affidavits this week in support of their claim that human remains from the WTC are mixed in with debris at the Fresh Kills landfill and could have been used to fill roads and potholes at the WTC site.

The affidavits state:

"I believe it virtually certain that at least some human tissue is mixed with the dirt at the Staten Island landfill," -- Charles Hirsch, NY City's Chief Medical Examiner wrote in a Jan. 9, 2003, letter to Diane Horning, head of WTC Families for Proper Burial. Read more in a Bergen Record column by Mike Kelly.

"From my experience at Fresh Kills, I am absolutely convinced that if the City of New York unearthed, resifted and washed the debris at Fresh Kills . . . it would find hundreds of human body parts and human remains," -- Theodore Feaser, the retired director of mechanical operations for the city Sanitation Department, a 20-year veteran who supervised the recovery effort at Fresh Kills for the Sanitation Department. Read more in New York Times coverage.

"I observed the New York City Department of Sanitation taking these fines from the conveyor belts of our machines, loading it onto tractors and using it to pave roads and fill in potholes, dips and ruts" -- Eric Beck, senior supervisor for Taylor Recycling, a private contractor hired to sift through debris trucked to Fresh Kills after the trade center attacks. Before the arrival of Taylor's equipment at Fresh Kills in October 2001, the debris was sifted manually by workers using rakes and shovels. "Fines" are fine debris taken to Fresh Kills from the WTC site that likely contained some human remains. Read more in NY Daily News coverage.

The families' lawsuit would force the city to restart the sifting and remains search process of thousands of tons of debris at Fresh Kills that still includes body parts and other human remains from the landfill. It would also require the city create a formal burial place for them. Possible sites for a burial place include areas of the Fresh Kills site that have never been used as landfill, or the southern end of Governor's Island in New York Harbor. The city has contested the lawsuit vigorously in Federal court, and their lawyers issued a statement claiming "To our knowledge, there is no truth to these claims" that human remains were in the WTC fines taken to Fresh Kills, and could remain there, according to Bergen Record coverage.

Many family members believe the city has been callous and dismissive of their attempts to reopen the search. Family members and supporters are shown at left at a September, 2006 rally. "I have been told I am just unhappy about the death of my son," Diane Horning is quoted in a Newark Star-Ledger column by Bob Braun. "That's right. I will never be happy again, no matter what happens. But I'm not asking anyone to make me happy. I want my son to be buried properly." Though it is likely that the city's motion to dismiss will be denied by Judge , Alvin Hellerstein VOICES e-Newsletter will continue to keep you updated on any developments in the case. To learn more about the remains issue, please visit the Remembering and Healing section of our website, and the website for WTC Families for Proper Burial.

Our Thanks to the Voices of September 11th for supplying this information & links.. To read the entire newsletter  Click on the logo below. 

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INTRODUCTION

In order to alert the public to a gross indignity being committed against those killed on September 11, 2001, our advocacy group "WTC Families for Proper Burial Inc." has been established. The group includes 9/11 family members, friends, and concerned citizens from across the United States and abroad. We seek to inform the general public of the injustice of leaving the ashen remains of those killed at the WTC in a garbage dump, the Fresh Kills landfill in Staten Island. The City of New York has taken the position that the ashen remains should not be removed from the landfill.

Diane & Kurt Horning & Arthur & Arlene Russo Co-Founders and the Board Members of the WTC Families for Proper Burial invite you to sign our petition, visit the web site, and  join our cause. " We Will Never Forget".

WTC Families for Proper Burial  is striving for the proper burial of all victims from the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center tragedy.  Remains have been left on top of garbage in the Fresh Kills Landfill.  Originally we had asked that the remains be returned for burial to the place where all 2, 749 people died: the World Trade Center site.

Now, we see that, after four and a half years, that site has been designated for many other purposes and will not accommodate the remains of the dead. Primarily, our goal continues to be getting the dead off the garbage and buried in a respectful location.  We have explored several locations, including one in Staten Island and are open to any other viable locations.  We assure all those who fear that we wish to impede progress at "ground zero," that the bill we are trying to pass in Albany does NOT require that the remains go back to the WTC site.  The bill asks that the remains be buried, not on top of garbage, but in a suitable location to be determined by the governors of New York and New Jersey.  That will necessitate  rewording a similar bill which has already been passed into law in 2003 in New Jersey.  We are committed to working with Governor Corzine to change that language to match the language of the New York Bill.  If you have any questions or concerns, please write to us at:

WTCFamiliesforProperBurial@comcast.net

RIBBONS

On Saturday, September 9, 2006, we handed out purple and black ribbons for all to wear not only during the 5th anniversary weekend, but also to our court appearances.  These are the colors so many of us have used to drape doorways and windows as we mourn our dead.  These colors will show our solidarity and absolute resolve that all our dead be given a decent burial as prescribed by law, by faith and by human decency.

American Heroes Deserve Proper Burial – A Plea To The City of New York & Nation  

 I recently learned that, much like our plea, there was an earlier plea to the city of New York , written in 1995 to the Editor of The New York Times by Matthew Ryan.  It also was titled “Early American Heroes Deserve Proper Burial.”  

     “During the Battle of Brooklyn, Aug. 27, 1776 , George Washington's army was in full retreat. With their backs to the East River and the British Army closing fast, the young army of democracy was going to be wiped out in a day. However, the Maryland Brigade made a heroic stand and delayed the Crown forces at     the Gowanus Canal . This allowed the Continentals enough time to evacuate to Manhattan , escaping the British. The Marylanders fell where they fought. Of     400 men, 135 were captured or wounded, and only 9 escaped. Those early heroes are buried in Brooklyn in a mass grave under an auto repair  shop. These men should be given the proper burial they have earned.

If the country truly wants to reclaim its members of the armed services missing in action, here are 256 in our own backyard.”  

 As most of you  know,  WTC Families for Proper Burial have gone to court to seek the correction of another injustice, the abandonment of the many remains of those lost on September 11^th, 2001 into an area known as "hills one and nine" at the Fresh Kills landfill, a garbage dump.  Of the 2,749 World Trade Center dead, the families of 1,151 did not receive any remains to  bury.  

Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who is hearing the case, spoke to the families gently and  likened the unidentified victims' remains to those of "unknown soldiers" who in the past have been given final resting places of honor and dignity. Our legal case is still pending. The Bloomberg administration's tactics have ranged from attacking the founders of WTC Families for Proper Burial, to citing inflated cost, to denying the remains are even at Fresh Kills,  while evading  the basic and most important question:

  “Who Owns The Dead?"

   I assure you, it is not the Mayor, or his team of  legal eagles, or even the Planning Commission who seeks to honor the work done at Fresh Kills, but continues to ignore the remains that have been bulldozed into unconsecrated ground, with garbage beneath  them, and construction fill on top of them.  

Perhaps it is time, that New Yorkers, and all Americans  demand that justice be done, and that we put human dignity before anything else, and truly honor  our countrymen, and women and children lost that tragic day, in 2001.

If the country truly wants to honor those lost on 9/11/01 , then give them all a Proper Burial, and pledge to do it now on this fifth anniversary.

Thomas &  JoAnn  Meehan

    Carteret , New Jersey 07008

The United States District Court                                   

   Southern District of New York

To View Our Amended Complaint please Click Here.

Note: Adobe  PDF Viewer is required. Download Here.

UPDATE COURT SCHEDULE

The City was to have answered our legal complaint on Friday, Sept. 22, 2006.  Late that afternoon, I was informed that they had asked for, and  been granted, another extension.  They are now scheduled to respond on October 6, 2006.  

The  Star-Ledger Newspaper 

By Bob Braun

 WTC Families for Proper Burial held one of its biggest rallies ever at Ground Zero, demanding the ashen remains of victims be removed from the Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island and placed in a memorial, either at the World Trade Center site or someplace else, like Liberty State Park.

Kurt Horning and his wife, Diane, of Scotch Plains, whose son, Matthew, was killed on 9/11, established the organization now suing the city for the removal of remains from Fresh Kills.

"The temptation is strong to hide away someplace private with your grief," says Kurt. "In the end, eventually, that's what we want we do. We want to be like most family members who are not activists. But this is such an injustice. We can't give up."

  Thank You Diane & Kurt, Arlene & Arthur

            Board Members of the WTC Families for Proper Burial

Kurt Horning and his wife, Diane, of Scotch Plains, whose son, Matthew, was killed on 9/11, and are co-founders of the WTC Families For Proper Burial were recognized for their efforts at the 2006 Voices Luncheon, along with the other honoree's of 9/11 family members who have been active since 9/11/01 and have remained active in support of all the Victim and Survivor Families.

 Please Visit the Voices Web Site to learn more. WWW.VOICESOFSEPT11.ORG

September 9, 2006

A Message from Congressman Joe Crowley to the WTC Families for Proper Burial

As our nation approaches the fifth anniversary of the horrific events of September 11, our fellow citizens pause to remember all of those people, our countrymen and women, who were murdered on that day.

But September 11 is not just a day for once-annual reflection, television specials, or political commentary for so many New Yorkers, like us.  Rather it is one more painful day out of 365 in each year that we live with a void in our lives – a void from the loved ones we personally lost on that day.

You have taken your cherished memories of your lost relatives and friends and channeled it towards protecting their memory and memorializing their remains in the proper manner.  Fresh Kills is not a fitting memorial for an animal, let alone a human with feelings and emotions.

I am saddened that we are in this fight today, a fight to get your loved ones’ remains from a landfill, but that is the situation we are in now.

I have met with Diane Horning and several others from the WTC Families for Proper Burial, and I told them as I tell you today, that I will stand by you, fight side by side with you, and enlist the resources of my office and my colleagues in Washington to work to get the remains of your loved ones back to you for a proper and fitting burial, which they so deserve.

I wish we didn’t have to be here today, or that this fight was not necessary, but it is.  I am inspired by your resolve and strength and will continue to stand with you.

9/11 victims' relatives protest handling of remains

NEW YORK — Near Ground Zero where their loved ones died nearly five years ago, families of victims blamed city officials Saturday for allowing human remains to stay entombed at a closed city garbage dump without proper burial.

Of the 2,749 people killed in the terror attacks at the World Trade Center, the remains of about 1,150 were never found or identified.

While some family members have for years pushed for a fuller accounting, their efforts have intensified in the weeks leading up to the fifth anniversary on Monday.

The discovery in recent months of about 760 body parts, mostly small bone fragments, at a nearby damaged skyscraper slated for demolition has fueled their outrage.

"The dead are not here at Ground Zero, though for many of us their spirits are still here," said Diane Horning, whose son, Matthew, was killed in the attacks. "Their corporal bodies are in a garbage dump."

She called it a "national shame."

Horning, a co-founder of WTC Families For Proper Burial, spoke to the scores of family members and supporters who gathered near the site surrounded by news crews and curious tourists. Many family members wore black and purple ribbons, held photos of their dead and hefted signs saying "Rest in Peace NOT in Garbage."

After the attacks, search crews excavated the mountains of debris where the twin towers once stood. Trucks hauled away much of the rubble to a closed Staten Island landfill, where workers sifted one last time, spending months looking for remains, IDs, personal effects and criminal evidence.

Overall, fewer than 300 intact bodies and more than 20,000 parts were recovered. Many of those remains have not been identified.

Horning's group sued New York City in federal court, accusing it of not doing enough to search the debris for remains. The group said the city is expected to respond on Sept. 22 to the lawsuit, which alleges negligence and violations of property and religious rights.

Much of the concern had been over remains turned to ash and mixed with pulverized building materials by the incredible violence of the attacks. But the recently found body parts near Ground Zero has some families asking if larger and identifiable remains are still in other buildings and the landfill.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration has said past searches were adequate and moving all the debris that might contain remains - hundreds of thousands of tons - would cost too much.

While much of the initial search after the attacks focused on the 16-acre World Trade Center site, debris from the towers and the hijacked jetliners also fell on other buildings and the surrounding neighborhood.

Massive falling wreckage from one of the twin towers severely damaged and contaminated the skyscraper known as the Deutsche Bank building. Wrapped in black netting and filled with toxic dust, the vacant building has been an environmental nightmare and a looming reminder of the attacks.

In the past year, crews preparing to tear it down found so many remains that expert searchers were called in.

Some U.S. senators have called for a special military team experienced in finding the remains of soldiers from past wars to search the area.

WTC Families For Proper Burial: www.wtcfamiliesforproperburial.com

Deutsche Bank building demolition site: www.renewnyc.com/plan—des—dev/130Liberty/

David Ho is a correspondent for Cox News Service.