Thursday, April 22, 2010

Specter Vs. Eachus

Previously Arlen Specter announced that he would sponsor a bill where federal funds would pay to take material dredged from the Delaware River to abandoned mines in Hazleton.

Given the posture that Todd Eachus takes to go out of his way and oppose the use of dredge to reclaim abandoned mines in Hazleton maybe my friend Gort can ask Arlen how he feels about the effort to oppose use of the dredge when he arrives in Hazleton tomorrow.

Specter called the start of dredging, which teamed with now-deceased Sen. John Heinz to advocate 27 years ago, a great day for Pennsylvania because of the economic impact.

Deepening the 102-mile shipping channel in the Delaware to 45 feet from 40 feet will create jobs on the ports and spin-off jobs for 125,000 people, Specter estimated.

John Estey, chairman of the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, estimated that dredging will create 30,000 to 35,000 jobs just at the ports.

Container ships need a deeper channel that dredging will create, Estey said.

"In the next five years, pretty much every ship will require at least 42 feet of water. This is the most important project in the history of the ports along the river," he said.


Todd Eachus announced the PaJobsNow package according to Brett Marcy's Twitter page. Listen here: http://cot.ag/bEUOia

Guess those weren't the jobs he was talking about. Maybe the Mayor could arrange a meeting between Arlen and Todd so Arlen can set Todd straight with some "honest notjustawhistlindixie".

Regarding Eachus's comment in the Standard Speaker about Chuck Roger's concerns over the Hazleton Creek Properties project where he is quoted as stating "We finally found an honest whistleblower inside the Department of Environmental Protection," maybe he should read this Dear Abby column from November 18, 1995 about whistleblowers.

However, informing on neighbors requires some judgment. Before you pick up the phone or pen, be sure their "violation" realistically infringes on you or others, and that is not simply a case of disapproval on your part."

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