New York facility used to search for Sept. 11 remains is closed

New York City has closed a year-old facility where debris was hand-sifted for Sept. 11, 2001, victims' remains, but the search for body parts will not end until after the World Trade Center site is rebuilt, a city official said Tuesday.

Ongoing construction around ground zero — including the dismantling of a 26-story toxic skyscraper that caught fire in August — could put off for years a complete search of areas believed to contain human remains, according to a memo by Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler.

"At no point in the near future would it be prudent to declare this search `over,'" Skyler wrote to Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

A utility worker's discovery of more than 80 bones in a manhole at ground zero in 2006 prompted an expanded search of nearby rooftops, manholes and sewer lines for bone fragments of victims of the terrorist attacks.

The city opened a facility a year ago to hand-sift debris recovered from in and around ground zero, with more than 100 people working there at some point.

The medical examiner's office finished work there on Monday and will now use a deployable tractor-trailer and a small trailer with sifting decks for remains, Skyler said.

The medical examiner's office will maintain a presence at the trade center site for as long as rebuilding continues, searching debris from the original trade center as needed, Skyler said.

A Sept. 11 memorial, transit hub and office towers planned for the site are expected to open between 2009 and 2013.

More than 1,100 of the trade center victims still have not been identified from the thousands of remains found after the attack.