Should Steel Beams Make a Memorial?
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 mills 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 someones son, someones daughter, someones mother, someones father, someones friend, someones 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 creati
