Intended To Distract From The Pending Third Circuit Federal Appeal Which May Force Them To Scrap Terminal Expansion Plans Until Appropriate Environmental & Public Health Safeguards Are In Place

Critics of the TTN Airport Expansion Have Questioned Unsubstantiated Jobs Projections of this $200 Million Project Mercer County/TTN Has Yet To Present Any Credible Job Creation Projection Details And They Refuse To Respond To Reports The Primary Jobs For The Terminal Expansion Will Be Filled By Workers From Outside The County

In yet another cynical demonstration of contempt for the community they serve, Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes and Assemblyman Wayne P. DeAngelo, President of the Mercer/Burlington Counties Building and Construction staged an Airport Expansion Project Labor Agreement (PLA) signing ceremony last month.

This despite the fact that no projection or documentation of local hiring has ever been provided by the county.

While platitudes were overflowing about local jobs … the truth is quite different.

Throughout the process of approvals and putting county residents on the hook for hundreds of millions in airport expansion costs, Mercer County/TTN have staunchly refused to provide any breakdown of the promised job windfall associated with the project.

Of course, the underlying financial rationale of the TTN airport expansion has always been murky at best. Mercer County’s applications for funding state that massive bond debt will be repaid by increases in Passenger Facility Charges (PFC) because of the anticipated dramatic rise in flight traffic and passenger volume.

However, all discussions of environmental harm and financial risks are dismissed by Mercer County claiming that flight & passenger volume will not significantly increase. Airport authorities are similarly dismissive of actual costs related to possible water contamination with spread of known toxins, including PFAS, and health costs related to increased air traffic pollution.

So which is it? it can’t be both! Increased volume, environmental harm and public health consequences OR stable volume & massive taxpayer debt?

Meanwhile Brian Hughes opined at length about the difficulty of getting the airport project through the pesky legal and environmental approval process. Of course by spending $4 million for a Philadelphia Engineering firm that broke the expansion approvals process into 50 “repair & maintenance” jobs the airport expansion is cynically circumventing the EPA and NJ DEP environmental laws.

“This is going to be a big project, and it’s a project that has gone through a lot of hoops and barriers,” Hughes said. “But we are ready now to move forward.”

Of course, Brian Hughes often gets ahead of himself when it comes to telling the truth. TTN is a 15 year violator of EPA Stormwater Management Planning regulations, and is still not in compliance, though the granting of final approvals for the airport expansion was contingent on Mercer County meeting the legally required environmental standards.

And currently the decision “to move forward” with the airport plan is being decided by a 3 judge panel of the Federal Third Circuit Court. And the ruling is not expected for several months meaning that any money spent on TTN site preparation could be a complete waste of taxpayer money.

Even after an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request by Trenton Threatened Skies, no further specifics of the number or types of jobs being created by the airport expansion were provided.

Moreover it is very likely that the majority of the workforce to be hired to effect the Trenton-Mercer Airport Expansion, will be coming from Atlantic County.

Since Mercer County has steadfastly maintained during approvals and public hearings process, that the proposed airport expansion will not result in increased air operations — takeoffs and landings — it seems unlikely that the nominal number of permanent jobs at an expanded TTN will justify the massive increase in taxpayer debt.

Stop Reckless Airport Expansion Now!

Call Today — Demand Protection!
Governor Phil Murphy & NJDEP Act Now To:

Stop funding and block any work on the airport expansion until:
· PFAS contamination is fully evaluated and cleaned up
· Environmental Impact Statement and Health Impact Analysis have been completed

CALL TODAY — DEMAND PROTECTION!  

Governor Phil Murphy (866)586-4069

New Jersey DEP (877)927-6337

NJ Attorney General (609)984-5828

NJ Office of the State Comptroller (855)627-8477

TAKE ACTION NOW!

Contact your lawmakers!
Donate today!
Sign up!