For Immediate Release
September 1, 2005
Contact:  Carmine Camillo
Ph: 814-453-2515
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Testimony of State Senator Jane M. Earll
49th Senatorial District
Erie International Airport, Tom Ridge Field
Public Hearing on Runway 6-24 Extension Project
September 1, 2005 at Millcreek Township Municipal Building

Hello, I am State Senator Jane M. Earll, and today I offer my support for the proposed runway extension here at Erie International Airport/Tom Ridge Field… 

• been a long time coming;
• has support of all the players involved- Millcreek Township, as well as its public safety officials; Erie County; federal and state elected officials, as well as various state and federal agencies and departments- this document process has been exhaustive.  THOROUGHLY EXHAUSTIVE-
• it has the support of the business community, which has lobbied publicly for this extension for quite some time;
• this project has been identified as the #1 economic development project for all of Erie County- the ability to move goods and people around the country and beyond is imperative if our businesses (our EMPLOYERS) are to compete in a global marketplace;
• Erie International Airport/Tom Ridge Field has seen its traffic skyrocket in the past few years.  It has expanded to include four separate airlines (US Air, Delta/Comair, Continental, and Northwest), with direct flights to major hub cities, at a cost that is competitive with larger airports near us (Buffalo, Cleveland, or Pittsburgh);
• this is up from just a few short years ago, when US Air was the dominant carrier, and the airport's fate was precariously tied to US Air's success or failure;
• this runway extension is vital if that growth and expansion is to continue, and if we ever want to see larger planes with more carriers and more destination cities from Erie International; 
• truly regional asset vital to our economic competitiveness in the future; not just Erie County, but northeastern Ohio, southwestern New York, and all of Northwest Pennsylvania; 
• this environmental document satisfies enhanced safety requirements imposed by FAA –the often-forgotten impetus behind the entire project.  the runway needs to be extended to address safety issue, and the economic benefit is an invaluable spin-off from that;
• adroitly addresses unique situation of encroaching upon an EPA clean-up site on one side, dealing with two railroad companies and their rail traffic on the other, as well as dealing with existing air traffic while doing all this work, and impacting on township/local road traffic;
• this expansion is at the heart of a larger area-wide intermodal transportation enhancement that will see wider streets, expanded intersections, better traffic signal coordination, abatement of long-standing drainage issues on Asbury Road, and more;
• clearly we here at the local level have thought this process through and maximized the impact the new runway will have to the area, not just the project itself, but the construction timeline;
• by coupling PennDOT projects with local Millcreek improvements, we are getting the most out of the dollars spent and time needed to create a long-term improvement for Millcreek, the Airport, and Erie County as a whole;
• as the elected State Senator representing Erie International and Millcreek Township, I urge the approval of this document and the granting of a Finding Of No Significant Impact (FONSI), so that we can finally get this long-awaited and much-needed project started and completed-