Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar says he will announce "a major development" today on the progress of the
in Somerset County, about 60 miles outside Pittsburgh.
A news conference is scheduled for 3 p.m. Refresh this page later for updates.
The U.S. government has been negotiating to buy land around the extremely rural area in Shanksville where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in a terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001.
In June, the National Park Service backed off its plan to use eminent domain to seize the remaining land necessary to build a $58 million, 2,200-acre memorial and national park at the crash site.
Two of seven landowners account for a majority of the acreage that the park service wants. Svonavec Inc. owns 275 acres -- including the place of impact where the plane hit the ground -- while a family that operates a scrap yard has about 150.
Salazar has pledged that landowners will be offered "fair market value."
Joanne Hanley, a superintendent with the National Park Service, said earlier this month that sale agreements had been reached with five of the seven landowners.
The government's goal is to break ground in November and have the project completed on 9/11/11 -- the 10th anniversary of the crash.
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