Returning to ground zero after months of 9/11 cleanup efforts | 60 Minutes Archive
In a Nutshell
Eight months after 9/11, the WTC recovery operation is nearly complete after removing 1.5 million tons of debris and recovering over 19,000 human remains, though only about 1,000 of the 2,800+ victims have been identified. Workers have reached bedrock 70 feet down across 16 acres, with debris still being sorted at Staten Island landfill where 135 additional victims were identified. Families are divided between those refusing closure until all remains are found versus those accepting each recovery, while rebuilding of subway lines begins as the first step toward reconstruction.
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While the rest of the country has moved on, Ground Zero has remained frozen in time. September 11th never ended there, with recovery work continuing day and night without stopping. After 233 days, the operation is nearly complete. In terms of concrete and steel, what has been accomplished is described as close to a miracle, but there are limits to what can be done with flesh and blood. It is likely that most of those lost will never be found.
Lower Manhattan has not looked like this since 1968. The World Trade Center was a mountain of misery containing 1,500,000 tons of wreckage and nearly 3,000 people to be found inside. The recovery began hand-over-hand, one bucket at a time, and has not stopped for a single hour since the day of the attacks. After almost 8 months, the work is nearly done.
At the base of downtown's towers, all that remains is a wound covering 16 acres and cutting 70 feet deep, a hole in the heart of Manhattan. Workers are now down to the bedrock of the island in the seven-story Trade Center basement.
Front loaders shake out the last of the ruins for inspection. Dan Henry, a Port Authority cop helping recover human remains, states: "When we do have a recovery, I don't think of it as a bad thing. I think of it as the beginning of closure for families that have been through just pure hell."
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