Government to seek Flight 93 site mineral rights

WASHINGTON - The National Park Service has decided to acquire the mineral rights on a major portion of land at the Flight 93 crash site in Western Pennsylvania to help ensure that memorial construction is not delayed.

Svonavec Inc., the owner of a key parcel of 275 acres for the site, had agreed to allow the court to decide the land's value. As part of the agreement, the government and Svonavec were each given the option to explore the possibility of the landowner's keeping the mineral rights.

According to a memo obtained by the Associated Press, the park service said that the government should hold those rights "in order to preserve the sacred nature of the memorial," and that it would ask a federal court to determine their value. A message left with Svonavec was not immediately returned yesterday.

United Flight 93 crashed near Shanksville during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. All 33 passengers and seven crew members died. - AP