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Gov't Reaches Out To Flight 93 Memorial Landowners

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Jun 5, 2009 10:44 pm US/Eastern

Gov't Reaches Out To Flight 93 Memorial Landowners

SOMERSET (KDKA) ― Acquiring the land surrounding the site where Flight 93 crashed on September 11, 2001 has been a sensitive subject for years, but on Friday, government officials in charge of the project went to Somerset County, vowing to make the acquisition a friendly one.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar was in Shanksville visiting the temporary Flight 93 memorial. He also went to Somerset to meet with those who own land where the permanent memorial is slated to be built.

The goal of the meeting was to reach out to landowners and avoid condemning the land.

One month ago, the National Park Service angered landowners when it said it would use eminent domain to seize their land, but Salazar and Sen. Arlen Specter say they think there has been a lack of communication and they don't think eminent domain is necessary.

Specter says the government will make every effort to work the situation out on a friendly basis, which includes paying the landowners what the government deems a fair market value for their land.

It also includes paying tribute to the landowners and their family history on the land as part of the Flight 93 memorial.

Government officials made it clear that eminent domain is still on the table if good faith negotiations don't work out, but landowners seemed pleased with the renewed efforts at working together.

If all goes according to plan, the permanent memorial is expected to be in place by the 10th anniversary of the September 11th terror attacks.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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