Congressmen Barletta, Marino, and Cartwright Advocating For Jobs At Tobyhanna Depot

It is refreshing to see a bipartisan announcement out of Washington.

WASHINGTON – Congressman Lou Barletta, PA-11, has authored a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration advocating Tobyhanna Army Depot as the location of the FAA’s Integrated Control Facility for air traffic control. The new site must be within 150 miles of New York City, but currently, locations outside of New York State are not being considered. Congressmen Tom Marino, PA-10, and Matt Cartwright, PA-17, also signed the letter.

“We would like to express our continued concerns about the exclusion of federal installations in Pennsylvania in the FAA’s request for information,” the Members of Congress wrote to FAA Administrator Michael Huerta. “Tobyhanna Army Depot (TYAD), for example, is just one facility in Pennsylvania that meets all of the relocation criteria outlined by the FAA except the arbitrary limitation based on state boundaries.”

The Members noted that Tobyhanna, which is “located 81.3 miles from downtown New York City, contains an operational radar and antenna range campus. Additionally, TYAD already has a 240,000 square foot building available with the opportunity for expansion.”

The Pennsylvania Representatives argued that Tobyhanna or other sites would offer better surroundings for workers.

“Many locations in Pennsylvania offer a significantly lower cost-of-living standard for current and future employees,” they wrote.

The three reminded Administrator Huerta that he has said he would be open to sites outside of New York.

“Recently, on February 27, 2013, during a House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation hearing, you testified that you would consider an ICF site outside of the state of New York,” they wrote. “We request that you give equal consideration for the establishment of this facility at the TYAD. Ultimately, we urge the FAA to allow fair competition to determine the best site for the relocation of the ICF without imposing arbitrary limitations based on state boundaries.”  

Barletta, Marino and Cartwright requested information on an ongoing analysis the FAA is conducting, including an opinion survey of current employees, while noting that the issue is also important as the fiscal crisis continues.

“The federal government must eliminate federal overspending,” they wrote. “This begins by making commonsense leasing and procurement decisions regarding federal buildings.”

Kanjorski's Porky Spending Again

SOP has learned that Paul Kanjorski's pending announcement this afteroon will release plans to bring an anti-terrorism training center to Northeastern Pennsylvania, probably billed as "Tobyhanna South".

This facility was proposed for Ruthsburg, Queen Annes County, Maryland but was soundly rejected by its residents.

It is interesting that Kanjorski's announcement puts the potential jobs at 1,000 while the Washington Times article pegs the number nearer 400, mostly custodial, maintenance, and food service.

For more than three hours, officials from the State Department Bureau of Diplomatic Security and the General Services Administration patiently answered questions and withstood scathing comments that revealed an opposition and distrust rivaling the most confrontational displays in last year's health care town-hall summits.

They promised the campus would be a good neighbor and pledged to mitigate traffic and noise problems.

But many residents say the stimulus funds and the jobs come with too big a price tag. They fear that long after the financial crisis has passed, they will be saddled with a facility that spoils the rural character of the area, strains the local infrastructure and further harms the environment around the Chesapeake Bay.

And many are just distrustful of promises made by the federal government.

Here is a link to a Washington Post article that spells out many opposition points to such a facility.

This article from the Baltimore Sun illustrates a great point about Kanjorski's motive to tought jobs.

The politicians "heard 'jobs, jobs, jobs,' and at that point, they stopped thinking. They never looked under the hood," said Jim Campbell, 71, a former partner at a high-powered Washington law firm who retired to a waterfront neighborhood on an arm of the Chesapeake Bay, about 10 miles from the proposed site.

They warn that the Foreign Affairs Security Training Center -- with its driving tracks for teaching evasive maneuvers, mock urban center for live-fire training and explosives pit for detonating 3-pound bombs -- would be a "little Aberdeen." Some are convinced the installation could eventually swallow more of the surrounding area, a roughly 30-square-mile swath of countryside with relatively few residents and little commercial development.

At the heart of the local opposition are a number of concerns, both practical and ideological: hostility to the stimulus law, worries about declining property values on nearby farms, possible environmental damage and noise from munitions blasts used to teach agents about roadside bombs.


This announcement is just another fantasy for Shamjorski's Dreamville- High Speed Rail from Scranton to New York, Kanjorski Center Nanticoke, Cargo Airport Hazleton, Regional Equipment Company, Cornerstone Technologies, Infatable Dam, Wall Street West (actually located in Bethlehem), Earth Conservancy, Hybrid Auto Plant, Sallie Mae's 2000 jobs that turned to lost jobs...when will it stop...next Disney will be located here with all the verbal rides Kanjorski sends this area on for political reasons. Remember he was the one quoted as saying Democrats are willing to stretch the facts to win an election.