Construction, Waste Companies Help Open Voids

Danielle Jackson, Assistant Editor

New York -- Construction and waste management companies have been aiding officials in New York to open up "voids" in the tons of debris still present where the World Trade Center towers once stood.

Mark Loizeaux, a demolition expert and head of operations for Tully Construction, said in an Associated Press report, "We take a layer of debris off, let [firefighters and search-and-rescue personnel] go in and search, [and] take another layer of debris off."

Officials are in the final stages of contracting with four New York construction companies to lift the debris, which then will have to be transferred to the Fresh Kills landfill in Staten Island. At Fresh Kills, FBI investigators and New York City detectives then sort through the debris for evidence.

Debris was being moved at a rate of about 3,000 cubic yards per day, according to the AP report.