http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Story?id=8241447&page=2 Ouzinkie, Alaska, is a village so small and remote that most Alaskans have never heard of it. With only 150 residents, the village doesn't have any stoplights, there are no paved roads and no stores. There isn't even a town -- it's just a collection of dirt roads and some houses. Share Taxpayer dollars build a fancy, new airport in a town with only 150 people. And yet Ouzinkie has hit the federal stimulus jackpot. As federal money is carved up for airport improvements nationwide, $15 million has been sent to Ouzinkie for a brand-new airport. The town's current airport consists of a gravel strip in the middle of a field -- no TSA presence and no buildings. "I would say it's fair we get this money. We need this money, we really do," said Alex Ambrosia, tribal council president for Ouzinkie. The tribal council says flying can become very dangerous because of strong winds and the short runway. A new airport will be able to accommodate small charter services, but no airlines. "If we need to get someone out that is ill ... we can't get a plane in here because of crosswinds," said Jill Boskosky, a resident of Ouzinkie. "Why don't they come and try to live in our community and our rural villages, and see what we have to live with," she added. But even some villagers think the federal money is a joke. "I think that we're only a couple hundred people -- that's a lot of big money spent here," said William Delgado, a Ouzinkie resident who has lived there for the past 41 years. "That's an awful lot of money for a little village. I don't know how it happened, but it happened," he added. Ouzinkie isn't the only town where this is happening: Tiny villages across the state of Alaska have received similar grants, all chosen by the FAA after the state submitted a wish list of airport improvements. The town of Fort Yukon received $15 million to rehabilitate its runway, and the town of Akiachak received $15 million for a new airport. "Our rural citizens have the same needs as our urban citizens, and we are not in a position to judge which are more important," said Christine Klein, Deputy Commissioner of Alaska's Department of Transportation. "We have no alternative like roads, rail or ferry, unlike the rest of the country, so it's for people's survival safety and emergency access," she said. But like a lot of people who live in Ouzinkie, longtime resident Matt Delgado doesn't even use the airport -- he takes a 30-minute boat trip to Kodiak, where there is a substantial regional airport. "You can go by boat -- it's only a half-hour ride," he said. Construction on Ouzinkie's new airport has already begun. Millions aside, locals complain that they're not getting many jobs out of it. The new runway is being built by outsiders, who come and go by planes landing at the current single runway airport.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/23/murtha.airport/ [rquoter]Remote Murtha airport lands big bucks from Washington Story Highlights Pennsylvania's John Murtha airport offers three commercial flights Rep. John Murtha has piloted almost $200 million from Washington to the airport Airport also receiving $800,000 from economic stimulus Hundreds of airports are slated to receive $1 billion in stimulus upgrades, FAA says By Jim Acosta and Janet Rodriguez CNN's American Morning JOHNSTOWN, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- Located outside a small Pennsylvania city, John Murtha airport may not see many passengers. But it's seen plenty of arrivals of tax dollars from Washington, most recently economic stimulus funds. The airport offers three commercial flights. In between the arrivals and departures, airport officials admit there are few faces around the facility. "When the flights are coming in, there are people. Other than that, it's empty," said Scott Voelker, manager of the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport. But one face is everywhere. Rep. John Murtha, the airport's namesake, is hard to miss. Considered one of "the kings of pork" on Capitol Hill by taxpayer watchdog groups, the 19th-term Pennsylvania Democrat has piloted almost $200 million from Washington to Murtha airport. Much of the funding has come in the form of legislative earmarks that are attached to bills before Congress. Taxpayer watchdogs have said earmarks -- often derided as "pork-barrel" spending -- are designed to fund congressional pet projects. "[Murtha's] dumped in nearly $200 million into this project that has virtually no passengers. It's practically a museum piece," said Steve Ellis with the Taxpayers for Common Sense. Watch why critics say the airport is wasteful ยป Murtha declined CNN's request for an interview. His staff issued a statement saying Murtha airport is vital infrastructure designed to "attract additional business" to the Johnstown area. On his House Web site, Murtha strongly defends earmarks, saying it's his "job" to direct federal funds to his district. amFIX: Your thoughts on how congress spends your money Earlier this year, the airport found a new revenue stream, receiving $800,000 from the stimulus to repave a crosswind runway that's used as a backup to the facility's main landing runway. Even though Voelker said the runway is perfectly safe, he said he believes the stimulus project "makes a lot of sense." He noted the runway hasn't been repaved since the 1980s. "Asphalt and concrete need to be replaced," Voelker added. In December, Murtha made a direct appeal to the Federal Aviation Administration to fund the runway project. The request was rejected. At the time, the airport did not meet FAA criteria for funding because the facility had fewer than 10,000 passengers. But earlier this year, the FAA notified Murtha airport officials the facility had been approved for stimulus funding. The FAA said Murtha did not request the stimulus money. FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said Murtha airport received stimulus money because it was "shovel-ready." It "met all of the requirements for the use of the stimulus money," Brown said. Murtha airport is not the only remote airport landing stimulus funds. According to the FAA's Web site, hundreds of big and small airports across the country are slated to receive $1 billion in stimulus upgrades. Many of the airports are in such far-flung places as U.S. territories Guam and American Samoa. Even King Salmon, Alaska, (population 447) is expecting $9.7 million, according to FAA records. See the records Taxpayer watchdogs said they wonder if some of that's pork. "The problem is you're not getting the multiple bang for your stimulus buck that you're looking for," Ellis said. He added, "when you see deadbeat airports getting cash so they can do their second runway, it really feeds cynicism around the country about the stimulus and about the projects." Brown defends the use of stimulus money for other remote airports such as Guam. "Guam is a U.S. territory and is part of the U.S. economy as far as I know," she said. Murtha airport's manager said taxpayer money is going to waste at his facility, but not on the runway project. He points to an unstaffed $8 million air traffic radar system installed in 2004. "It's been sitting over there, and that radar has been spinning for all those years with no purpose. Just sitting there," Voelker said. Voelker said he has brought the matter up with both the FAA and Pennsylvania Air National Guard, which uses the air traffic control facility. But he said nobody can explain why the radar system hasn't been staffed.[/rquoter]
I'm a sucker for transportation infrastructure, in that I think it generally spurs additional economic activity. In most sparsely populated places, most people would just take a long drive to get where they need to go. But in an intemperate climate like Alaska, that might not always be reasonable or very safe. That having been said, a community of 150 couldn't possibly use that airport with any real frequency. And frankly I wonder why the city, county or Alaskan state government can't fund that thing, particularly when they're cutting oil revenue checks to their citizens.
