By Josh Williams and Gabriela Resto-Montero
DNAinfo Reporter/Producers
Families of 9/11 victims have accused the city of using the remains of their loved ones recovered in the debris from the World Trade Center to fill potholes.
The victims' families have made the allegation as they make one last legal attempt to force the city to continue to sift through debris at the Fresh Kills landfill in Staten Island for remains of loved ones.
The families, who hope the debris could be separated from other garbage at the site and moved to a location across the street, have filed an appeal with the Second Circuit Appeals Court.
The debris was collected and kept at the Fresh Kills landfill in Staten Island following the terrorist attacks. In 11 months of processing the debris between 2001 and 2002, hundreds of remains were found.
Eric Beck, an employee at Taylor Recycling Facility, LLC, who managed the sifting process, swore in an affidavit obtained by DNAinfo that he witnessed construction crews using the debris mixture for road repairs.
"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," Beck said in his testimony.
The group of families, who call themselves WTC Families for Proper Burial, said it was disrespectful to leave remains atop a garbage dump.
"You can't leave hundreds of body parts and remains there," he said.
A 2005 court ruling found that the city had done all it could to identify remains, the New York Times reported.
An attorney for the city, James E. Tyrell, elicited gasps from the gallery of families when he pointed out it would be impossible to properly identify remains at this point, according to the New York Post.
“All that’s left here is a bunch of undifferentiated dust,” Tyrell said.
