Eminent domain process on land for 9/11 memorial under way

The National Park Service has begun the process of eminent domain to acquire land from seven Somerset County property owners and begin construction of the Flight 93 Memorial in time for a Sept. 11, 2011, opening.

"The National Park Service has committed to opening the memorial to the heroes of Flight 93 on the 10th anniversary of their action," Flight 93 Memorial Superintendent Joanne Hanley said in a news release Thursday. "The NPS, as well as the Families of Flight 93, has been working with landowners since before 2005; but with few exceptions, these negotiations have been unsuccessful. Now, to meet the construction timeline, we must acquire the land by exercising the authority authorized by Congress."

The memorial was designed to honor the passengers and crew who died Sept. 11, 2001, when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in a field in Stonycreek Township. Some of the 40 passengers wrested control of the airplane from terrorists before they could hit a target in Washington.

A final completion date for the $58 million, 2,200-acre permanent memorial and park has not been announced.

Eminent domain allows government seizure of a property for public use, with compensation paid to owners. The eminent domain clause was contained in an appropriations bill that cleared the Senate and the House in 2007.

But several landowners said they always intended to work with the park service to reach a fair sale price.

Phil Sheridan, park service spokesman, said two large properties, including 275 acres owned by Svonavec Inc., a quarry and coal company, and 145 acres in Stonycreek Township owned by Anthony Kordell account for much of the seizure.

"The total amount we are trying to acquire is approximately 500 acres," Sheridan said. "We need 1,500 to construct the memorial."

The balance of land needed is already owned by the park service or is under agreement.

The park service contacted all of the owners Wednesday and sent letters notifying them that their property will be seized, Sheridan said.

"We prefer to work with sellers," Sheridan said. "At this point, we must acquire the properties in order to start construction to open the memorial by Sept. 11 (2011). How long does one wait to honor those passengers and crew who died under very heroic circumstances?

"We will ask the Department of Justice to take over from here in terms of filing paperwork in court," he said. "We are in the process of doing updated appraisals (on all properties). We will make that available to the Department of Justice."

In January, an agreement was announced with Svonavec Inc. in which the "final and binding valuation" of the land was to be decided by the U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh.

Mike Svonavec, company co-owner, said yesterday that he understood the agreement specified his property would be taken by eminent domain.

"I'm still working under that agreement, as far as I know," he said. "We haven't been in negotiations for a sale since 2008 or so."

Both he and Kordell said they had requested appraisals from the park service but did not receive them.

Kordell and his son, Chris, own and operate Rollock Inc., a scrap yard. He said he received an offer on his land last Friday.

"We are terribly disappointed this is the way they decided to resolve it," he said. "We wanted to resolve it five or six years ago."

Kordell said he will have to relocate his business, a process that could take 18 months or more.

"We are heavy industry," he said. "This is not a used car lot."

Sheridan said time is a factor. "It may be, in the scheme of things, some people were willing to sell, but we are running out of time," he said.

Construction on the memorial is expected to begin later this year.