New Hazleton airport aim is to relieve traffic

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HAZLETON — Much of the air cargo that flies into New York and New Jersey airports passes over Williamsport, Milton and Hazleton.

But that "superhighway in the air" has become congested, explained state Rep. Todd Eachus.

A new airport 90 miles from New York would relieve that traffic jam, he said.

The proposed airport site in Hazle Township is close to Interstates 80 and 81, as well as rail lines, Eachus pointed out. That offers several transportation options for goods that come through the airport.

And the airport would be equipped with state-of-the-art security, said Luzerne County Commissioner Greg Skrepenak.

Federal security provisions, mandated after Sept. 11, 2001, have to be in place in the next three years, he noted.

And it would be easier to put those measures into a new operation than to upgrade existing airports, he said.

Cargo planes would barely have to alter their routes to land at the planned site, developers said.

At Wednesday's press conference at the Humboldt Industrial Park, a video display showed a flight path passing over the lower parts of Montour and Columbia counties.

The display showed flights departing the airport site to Europe, South America and Africa.

The airport would take deliveries from as far away as China, said Bob Powell of developer Gladstone Partners.

By Ben Timberlake

Jobs to arrive via new airport

By BEN TIMBERLAKE

Press Enterprise Writer

HAZLETON — Developers plan to build a cargo airport that could bring as many as 165,000 jobs to this area, reinvigorating a region still reeling from the decline of coal, local leaders say.

And Columbia County economic watchers say some of the benefit could spread.

The developer needs federal officials to sign off on the Hazle Township site near the Humboldt Industrial Park. And even then, the first plane wouldn't land for at least a few years.

Construction alone will take as long as two-and-a-half years.

The airport itself would have 4,533 jobs on-site, developers said in announcing the project Wednesday.

And it could attract other businesses that need to be near a cargo hub. That effect could bring up to a whopping 161,000 jobs, developers claim, and add $17.1 billion to the regional economy.

Some businesses might locate in Columbia County with a cargo airport so close, said Steve Phillips, executive director of BIDA in Berwick.

The group developing the airport is called Gladstone Partners, comprised of former Hazleton Mayor Michael Marsicano, former Hazleton Solicitor Robert Powell and Gregory Zappala, who works for investment firm J.P. Morgan.

Construction for the airport will cost $500 million, while the whole project will reach $1.6 billion, developers say.

The airport would also host buildings with 22 million square feet of floor space.

Good jobs

The aviation, security and hi-tech jobs would pay more than minimum wage, said Luzerne County Commissioner Greg Skrepenak.

"These jobs are life-sustaining jobs," added state Rep. Todd Eachus. "These buoy up local economies."

Bringing thousands of jobs in one swoop would be a change from trying to attract them a few hundred at a time, as leaders are used to doing, Eachus said.

"We've been scraping along, plant by plant," he said.

The Humboldt Industrial Park employs about 5,500 in all.

Airport boons

Eachus, who represents Hazleton and parts of lower Luzerne County, compared the potential boon to local economic expansion in Memphis, Tenn., and Anchorage, Alaska, after those cities attracted cargo airports.

In the 1970s and 1980s, after the Memphis airport was built, the city saw 156,000 jobs created. Those brought $5.6 billion in wages each year, Eachus said.

The Memphis hub attracted businesses that demanded fast delivery, he explained. They included national firms that do laptop repair, drug testing and store replacement corneas for human eyes.

Small, pricey goods

Most goods shipped by air are small, high-cost items like electronics, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, Eachus pointed out.

Existing industries in Columbia and Montour counties would not benefit much from a closer cargo airport, said Ed Edwards, executive director of the Columbia-Montour Chamber of Commerce.

Most goods produced in the area are hauled by tractor-trailer, he said.

And either railroads or tractor-trailers bring materials here.

Route 93

Columbia County could be an attractive place for a company hoping to use the cargo airport, Phillips said, noting the county's four Interstate 80 interchanges.

But Route 93 between Berwick and Hazleton would need to be expanded, Phillips said.

PennDOT plans to add lanes to that hilly road, but officials have said a project would not start until 2010 at the earliest.

18 miles to Berwick

Edwards figures some Columbia residents would be happy to drive to a good job near the site.

The airport would be about 18 miles from Berwick and about 34 miles from Bloomsburg. A drive from the site to Berwick took about 27 minutes Wednesday afternoon.

According to the U.S. Census, 7,229 Columbia County residents work outside the county, most of them in neighboring Montour and Luzerne counties.

Public, private funding

Developers say they will not use federal money because going after those funds can delay the project.

So far, they have spent only their own money, Powell said. He would not name an exact number, but said the costs are "well into the six figures."

Eventually, the state and the county would be called on to finance some of the project, Commissioner Skrepenak said. But developers did not discuss specifics.

Hurdles

Developers downplayed difficulties in buying up land that is leased by an all-terrain vehicle park.

A court hearing Wednesday was set to decide whether Paragon Adventure Park would be ousted from the 2,500 acres the airport developers want.

Gladstone already controls 4,800 acres, Powell said. But the airport site would take up just 4,300 acres, developers say.

Eachus acknowledged concerns of residents of a nearby high-end community called Eagle Rock.

The process to approve the airport will be open with opportunities for people to make criticisms, he said.

FAA approval

Luzerne County commissioners plan to establish an airport authority as soon as March. That group would be the governing body of the airport.

Gladstone would have no members on the board, Skrepenak said.

Once established, the airport authority would seek approval from the Federal Aviation Administration.

That will be the most difficult and potentially lengthy step, Skrepenak said.

But developers are optimistic because an FAA study found the site to be a good location for an airport.

The people of Luzerne County would own the airport, while Gladstone Partners would own and develop the surrounding land.