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November 30, 2003 Times Picayune, Louisiana
Assuming Juror: Cargo Airport Brings Potential for $4 Billion NAPOLEONVILLE, La. (AP) — A cargo airport proposed for Ascension Parish could have a $4 billion effect on the three-parish area, an Assumption Parish police juror said. Patrick Johnson was among a Louisiana delegation of state and local officials who visited a cargo airport near Dallas on Nov. 17. He said that facility had an economic impact of $4 billion on the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and a similar airport could have the same effect on Assumption, Ascension and St. James parishes. "It would be hard to say no to something like that," Johnson said at the parish's meeting last week. "Even though they want to use only 200 acres in our parish, it should have a ripple effect here." Johnson said more than 150 businesses, including FedEx and J.C. Penney Co. Inc. have a presence at the Dallas airport. The Louisiana Airport Authority has been pushing for the construction of a cargo airport primarily in Ascension Parish. But Juror Henry Dupre expressed skepticism about the proposal. "It's not just the farmers who are going to be affected," Dupre said. "It's the little guy whose house will be expropriated." "The ripple effect on us will be the noise, the pollution and the increased water drainage," Dupre said. Police Jury President Martin Triche cut the discussion short and thanked Johnson for his information. "There are issues that we need answers to on the positive and negatives, but we got some insight we never had before from someone who actually visited a facility," Triche said. |