Kanjorski Drops Bombshell on Luzerne County Residents

The following is from a Lou Barletta For Congress 2010 press release:

Kanjorski drops bombshell on Luzerne County residents

Lou Barletta vows to fight this dangerous idea to bring
500 explosions a year to our area

Hazleton, PA – Paul Kanjorski wants to open a military-style training camp in Conyngham Township, a quiet community that will have to get used to “chases, machine-gun fire and bomb blasts” that will take place at the facility. (Washington Post, 2/23/10).

There would be about 500 bomb blasts a year at the site, according to published reports about a similar project proposed for Maryland. That project was successfully fought and killed by Maryland residents, who said the military-style camp would disrupt their lives.

Now, Kanjorski wants to bring this project to Conyngham Township under the guise of local job creation – yet according to the Washington Times, federal officials questioned about the Maryland project “did acknowledge that they could make no guarantee that the promised 400 jobs, many in food service, groundskeeping and maintenance, would go to local residents.” (3/29/10)

“In an election year, we expect Paul Kanjorski to come up with some wild ideas in his quest to retain power, but this one is hard to believe. Kanjorski is clearly out of touch if he believes the residents of Conyngham Township – and the miles around the site that will bear the brunt of repeated bomb blasts – would be in favor of this project. For Kanjorski to take a dangerous project that the people of Maryland rejected and now try to pass it on to the people of Northeastern Pennsylvania shows how desperate he is,” said Shawn Kelly, spokesman for Lou Barletta, Hazleton mayor and candidate for Congress.

Kanjorski has overpromised and underdelivered for the residents of the 11th District for years, and he’s always reached for the fantastical, whether it’s mystery employers only he knows about, moving sidewalks, monorails, inflatable dams, or everyone’s favorite, the Kanjorski family goldmine known to us as Cornerstone Technologies. Sadly, Kanjorski continues to lead people on with the promise of new jobs as unemployment in the region is at an 18-year high due to his failed economic policies.

Lou Barletta said, “I will never put residents of this district in danger by supporting a project like this. What guarantees are we going to have that children will not sneak onto this bomb range? What will this project do to home values? What businesses are going to move into a town that’s rocked by 500 explosions a year? Mr. Kanjorski’s project will completely destroy the area around it, and I’m going to fight it.

“We need good jobs and real answers to our problems, not more of Kanjorski’s fantasy projects – least of all one that will turn our communities into bomb ranges. I believe Northeastern Pennsylvania needs jobs, but not at any cost – and certainly not in exchange for 500 bomb blasts a year.”

Facts about Kanjorski’s bomb range

• This project was rejected by the citizens of a community in Maryland because the noise and commotion that would come from the chases, machine-gun fire, and bomb blasts would disrupt their way of life.
• The project was so toxic that U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley – both Democrats – withdrew their support of it after the public outcry.
• Only 400 jobs would be created. Most of them would be support-level jobs – food service, groundskeeping, and maintenance.
• Federal officials cannot guarantee that any of those jobs will go to local residents.
• From July 2009 to September 2009, the federal government narrowed down the list of potential sites to five – the Maryland site, two in Virginia, and two in West Virginia. Pennsylvania isn’t even on the list of finalists, let alone Northeastern Pennsylvania.
• The federal government is looking for a site within 150 miles of the U.S. Capitol. State Department officials say that distance was calculated as the maximum commute students could reasonably be required to travel by car from Washington in one day. Kanjorski’s bomb range is outside of that radius.
• Federal officials admitted there would be 500 bombs detonated at the facility each year.


Sources:
“Some in Md. town call anti-terrorism training plan a dud,” The Washington Post, Feb. 23, 2010
“‘Porky’ project smells bad to locals,” The Washington Times, March 29, 2010
“GSA drops plan for Maryland training site,” The Washington Times, July 29, 2010 End of Press Release

According to published reports the government tries to sell the public on the fact that they will be exploding 3 pound bombs at the training facility. S.O.P. found this video on the net. Here's what a 3 lbs. of explosive placed in a bunker looks like.


Ultra Slow Motion Explosion - Watch more Funny Videos

Instead of wasting our stimulus money which could be used elsewhere to stimulate this lucklaster economy why doesn't the government consider one of the 350 military bases it has closed under the Base Realignment and Closure (or BRAC)process.

Every time Paul Kanjorski slams Lou Barletta about the dredge project remember the EPA has identified and placed 34 military bases on its Superfund list and the agency is concerned with incomplete pollution cleanup at another 100 facilities. Maybe its time Kanjorski pays attention to the federal government.