"Local facility joins 'Operation Katrina Airport Outreach'"

Thursday, September 8, 2005

Local facility joins 'Operation Katrina Airport Outreach'
By Dwayne Pickels
The Pittsburgh (PA) Tribune-Review


Local airport and municipal officials are joining forces to lend a hand in a
nationwide call to help restore Gulf Coast airports grounded by Hurricane
Katrina. 

Launched Wednesday at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity Township,
"Operation Katrina Airport Outreach" is a joint effort to gather and
transport needed materials to Southern airports devastated by the storm. 

"We feel that airports are a resource to bring in needed materials and
equipment, so we're trying to establish another means to help these
airports," airport Manager Gabe Monzo said. "We're going to do everything we
can to bring them back to where they were before or even better." 

Monzo said the relief effort is in response to a nationwide call from the
American Association of Airport Executives, based in Alexandria, Va. 

"It's a large but close-knit organization, and they have asked every airport
in the country for help," he said. 

Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport on the city's west side
reported that it suffered roof damage and damage to hangars and fences.
Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport in Mississippi also sustained
structural damage to airport buildings. 

While airports in the region were reportedly "stabilizing" as of Wednesday,
the New Orleans airport's Web site stated that it is "operational for
humanitarian relief and civilian and military rescue efforts." 

No timeline was available as to when air service would resume in the New
Orleans area. 

The airport in Mississippi is also open for emergency relief aircraft only.
But commercial flights are expected to resume today on a limited basis. 

Specific requests from afflicted airports in Louisiana, Mississippi and
other hard-hit states are posted on the AAAE's Web site clearinghouse, and
airports throughout the country have responded with offers of relief
supplies and labor. 

Using the Westmoreland County airport as a base of operations, Monzo said
the local effort seeks to bolster that response by collecting specifically
requested supplies and arranging for their transportation to those
facilities in the South. 

"They have a specific list of needs they've put out, mostly cleaning
supplies for now," he said. "We're not looking for a couple of bottles of
bleach, we're looking for case lot items in mass quantities." 

Hangar space has been offered to store the items until shipment can be
arranged through any donated means available, "be it air, ground or rail,"
he said. 

"We're just getting started," Monzo said. "And, since we are not a large
airport, we're reaching out to our local municipalities and fire departments
to help with the collection. We can handle some materials, but we're more
than happy to accept any assistance anyone can offer." 

Unity Township supervisors and the township's fire bureau have already
joined the effort, and will act as a collection network. 

"We sat down and talked about this, and not only did we see a need to help,
but we felt a moral responsibility to help our fellow man," township
Supervisor Michael O'Barto said. 

"We will also be recruiting our fellow municipalities to join us," O'Barto
added. "People in the United States are the most generous in the world, and
we have a lot of those kind of people right here." 

Because of security issues, no items are to be delivered directly to the
airport terminal, Monzo said. 

Unity Township Emergency Management Coordinator Pete Tenerowicz said items
may be delivered to fire departments from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Fire departments include: Crabtree, Dryridge, Lloydsville, Marguerite,
Mutual, Pleasant Unity, Whitney-Hostetter, Youngstown and St. Vincent. 

Donations may be taken to the municipal building on Beatty County Road from
8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays. 

The list of items sought is posted on the township's Web site, at
www.unitytownship.org. 

Monzo said an account to finance the operation has been established at
Commercial Bank and Trust on Route 981 and Terry Way, near Latrobe. 

Any excess materials or contributions collected will be directed to other
established relief efforts, he added. 

For more information on what, where and how to contribute to the effort,
send an e-mail to info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx or call the airport's coordinating
office at 724-532-2324.


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