Matt Molnar
2009-04-19, 02:07 PM
Murtha's Earmarks Keep Airport Aloft (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/18/AR2009041802128_pf.html)
State-of-the-Art Pennsylvania Facility Sees Few Travelers but Lots of Funding
By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 19, 2009
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. -- The John Murtha airport sits on a windy mountain two hours east of Pittsburgh, a 650-acre expanse of smooth tarmac, spacious buildings, a helicopter hangar and a National Guard training center.
Inside the terminal on a recent weekday, four passengers lined up to board a flight, outnumbered by seven security staff members and supervisors, all suited up in gloves and uniforms to screen six pieces of luggage. For three hours that day, no commercial or private planes took off or landed. Three commercial flights leave the airport on weekdays, all bound for Dulles International Airport.
The key to the airport's gleaming facilities -- and, indeed, its continued existence -- is $200 million in federal funds in the past decade and the powerful patron who steered most of that money here. Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) is credited with securing at least $150 million for the airport. It was among the first in the country to win funding from this year's stimulus package: $800,000 to repave a backup runway. [Full Article (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/18/AR2009041802128_pf.html)]
State-of-the-Art Pennsylvania Facility Sees Few Travelers but Lots of Funding
By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 19, 2009
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. -- The John Murtha airport sits on a windy mountain two hours east of Pittsburgh, a 650-acre expanse of smooth tarmac, spacious buildings, a helicopter hangar and a National Guard training center.
Inside the terminal on a recent weekday, four passengers lined up to board a flight, outnumbered by seven security staff members and supervisors, all suited up in gloves and uniforms to screen six pieces of luggage. For three hours that day, no commercial or private planes took off or landed. Three commercial flights leave the airport on weekdays, all bound for Dulles International Airport.
The key to the airport's gleaming facilities -- and, indeed, its continued existence -- is $200 million in federal funds in the past decade and the powerful patron who steered most of that money here. Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) is credited with securing at least $150 million for the airport. It was among the first in the country to win funding from this year's stimulus package: $800,000 to repave a backup runway. [Full Article (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/18/AR2009041802128_pf.html)]