SOMERSET, Pa. -- Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said he is optimistic deals will be made for land in Somerset County needed for the Flight 93 Memorial without invoking eminent domain.

Salazar said agreements in principle have been reached with most of the landowners. Negotiations with the rest of the landowners are continuing and deals could be reached within the next few weeks.

The government set a deadline earlier this month for deals to be in place or else the government would use eminent domain to acquire the land. That deadline passed but negotiations continued.

Flight 93 was hijacked by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001, and crashed in Shanksville.

The government and victims' families want the memorial in place by the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

The Secretary of the Interior was in Somerset County again for the second time in three weeks meeting with landowners who own property on the Flight 93 Memorial site.

Salazar said although none of the land agreements are final he hopes it will be by Aug. 1. Right now, the secretary said they have agreements in principle with five of the seven landowners, titles and some other issues still need to be finalized. The other two landowners are still negotiating.

Eminent domain is still a power that the Department of the Interior can use but Salazar said it would be used as a last resort.

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