Should steel beams make a memorial? - C&D News - disposition of scrap metal from World Trade Center - Brief Article

Recycling Today, Dec, 2001

Is it wrong for the scrap industry to reclaim the scrap metal generated from the attack on the World Trade Center?

In a letter to several media outlets, at least one scrap recycler says that it is, and proposes making an underwater barrier reef offshore from Manhattan.

Harry Kletter, chairman of Industrial Services of America (ISA), Louisville, Ky., says "this sacred rubble and scrap should not be buried in a landfill with ordinary trash or consumed in a steel mill's furnace, since it contains pieces of books and records, pieces of tile and carpet, pieces of computers and lighting, pieces of glass and marble, and pieces of someone's son, someone's daughter, someone's mother, someone's father, someone's friend, someone's neighbor."

In his letter, Kletter also makes reference to the economic condition of the ferrous scrap industry, saying, "We need to recycle everything from Ground Zero in a manner that will not present a burden to an already overwhelmed infrastructure."

Kletter proposes creating a barrier reef of the material 17 miles offshore from the southern tip of Manhattan where the World Trade Center used to stand. "A barrier reef is a living and growing tribute that would be an economical and ecological choice for a lasting memorial capped by a stainless steel buoy fashioned from scrap and fitted with a solar and wind-powered beacon to serve as an everlasting light."

It is unclear how much support Kletter will be able to garner for his project. Two scrap companies have already bid on steel beams being reclaimed from the site, and much of the concrete at the site may not be in large enough chunks to build a reef.

Kletter was in Manhattan at the time of the attack and witnessed the towers collapse from the balcony of an office building. He says he "would also like to be a witness at the dedication of the World Trade Center reef."