Thursday, October 02, 2003

TRENTON (AP) - Thousands of bodies found at the Secaucus site of a planned turnpike interchange will be reburied at a Bergen County cemetery.

Pending a judge's approval, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority hopes to rebury the remains within the next two weeks at Maple Grove Park Cemetery in Hackensack. The decision comes several weeks after the authority canceled its plans to bury the remains at a North Bergen cemetery because bone fragments were found at that site.

The cemetery will be paid $150,000 to reinter the bodies in a 60-by-50 foot parcel and, as part of the contract, certify that the area is free of previous burials.