Cargo airport, thousands of jobs planned near Hazleton

Luzerne would build the facility, relieving New York's crowded skies.

By Bob Laylo Of The Morning Call

| A Hazleton company announced plans Wednesday to build a cargo airport southwest of the city that the company said would create 4,500 airport jobs and many more supporting jobs.

Gladstone Partners, which includes former Hazleton Mayor Mike Marsicano and city solicitor Robert Powell, said the project would be developed on a 4,300-acre tract in Hazle Township. Powell said the company would turn over 1,000 prime acres of the site to Luzerne County to build the airport, and Gladstone would develop property around it for supporting businesses.

''I'm elated, obviously, for all the good it could do for the tri-county area,'' Marsicano said.

The airport would be near where Carbon, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties meet.

Marsicano first proposed building the airport in 1995, and made another pitch to build it in 1999 before those plans languished.

State Rep. Todd Eachus, a Democrat whose 116th District includes Hazleton, said the cargo-only airport would relieve crowded airports in the New York City area, which have flights that already pass over his district, and improve security, since it could be built to screen the cargo it receives.

Eachus noted there has been a push in Congress to have all cargo screened.

''We can become a place where business comes to us, international business comes to us,'' Eachus said.

Two area airport officials split on opinions of the plan.

George Doughty, Lehigh Valley International Airports's top official, was skeptical of the plan, while Barry Centini, director of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport was supportive.

Doughty said he does not think there is enough demand to support a cargo-only airport. Cargo operations fell 5.5 percent at LVIA in 2006.

''I don't know what market they would serve that isn't already being served and can continue to be served by LVIA, by Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, by Newark, by Philadelphia, by Harrisburg,'' Doughty said in a telephone interview Wednesday. ''I don't know why a particular investment there makes any sense.''

Doughty said there are not many freight-only airports. He said even if the investors are hoping to build a cargo operation that would serve the Northeast, it still would make sense to wait until the airports in New York are completely saturated.

Centini, acknowledging that the cargo airstrip might present competition to his airport, said the Hazleton investors are thinking of airport congestion in the New York metropolitan area and about calls for more security.

''I think 9/11 has added a lot of things,'' Centini said. ''Cargo will have to be inspected. I think they are taking all of this into play in this proposal.''

The plan is still a long way from construction.

The Luzerne County commissioners at a meeting Wednesday voted to advertise to establish an authority to build the airport and manage it. County Commissioner Greg Skrepenak said the commissioners would vote to form the authority in March.

Skrepenak said the airport could reverse 40 years of economic stagnation in northeastern Pennsylvania with ''one swing of the bat.''

Powell from Gladstone said his partnership has invested ''six figures'' in the project so far. However, there's no funding source for the estimated $1.6 billion project.

Eachus said the secretaries of the state Department of Economic Development and the state Department of Transportation have sent a letter promising financial support for the project. He also said the state could serve as a conduit for a bond issue.

Eachus said no Federal Aviation Administration money is being sought because it takes too long.

Before it takes off, the project needs FAA airspace approval. Without that approval, Eachus said, the project is dead.

The site of the proposed airport is 1,700 feet above sea level, is surrounded mostly by mine-scarred land and has no obstructions for planes. It's adjacent to Interstate 81 and about 10 miles from Interstate 80.

''If you look at the land, it is perfect for an airport,'' Powell said.

The vision for the site calls for a 13,000-foot runway where 4,533 employees would work. A study done by a consultant Leigh Fisher Associates said 161,000 ancillary jobs could be created in manufacturing, service freight and high-tech jobs.

That would mean a job for every other resident of Luzerne County, which has a population of 320,000.

Proponents of the plan look to Memphis, which has one of the largest cargo airports in the country, to back their projections.

Total jobs in Memphis, where FedEx has established its hub, related to air cargo total 156,000 with total wages of $5.6 billion. Other companies have sprouted around the airport.

Eachus and Powell pledged to have frank discussions with area residents who may have concerns about noise or traffic.

''It drops the international economy out of the sky and into our area,'' he said.