Who Really Supports the Tire Incinerator?

     Most area politicians, when asked about their support for the tire incinerator planned for Crawford County, tend to respond that it is out of their hands, and that they are not involved.  Recently we confronted State Representative Brad Roae at a town hall meeting and he, and his manager who answered some questions for him, were very clear:  It wasn't in their district, they were not involved, and they were not interested in discussing it. Behind the scenes, however, Brad Roae IS involved. Not only has he been promoting the incinerator, he has been asking the Governor for tax-payer money to fund rail construction for the facility!
     Through my research I have discovered that Brad is not the only local politician to have written glowing letters about the incinerator to Governor Corbett and State Transportation Secretary Barry Schoch. State Representatives Michelle Brooks, John Evans, State Senator Robert D. Robbins, Meadville Mayor Christopher Soff and all of the Crawford County Commissioners wrote letters of support. Some of the letters include praise for the project that eerily mirrors CRE's promotional materials. The Crawford County Commissioners repeat CRE's claims about jobs almost word-for-word, and Brad Roae goes a step further, saying: "The positive environmental and economic impacts will be invaluable to the region."

  In a time of deep and painful cuts in the state budget, why did our elected officials ask for our tax-payer money to fund the rail portion of the world's largest tire incinerator?

UPDATE 8/24/12
Here is an update on the Railroad Transportation Assistance Grant that had been sought by CRE and the Economic Progress Alliance.  This grant requires a 30% local share commitment from CRE of $858,000. Because of the Environmental Hearing Board appeal, CRE has requested and received an extension to the deadline for providing the match until the appeal is resolved. It is our understanding that the grant money will not be awarded until CRE provides this local share, which puts construction of the rail project on hold until after the appeal.

Links to the letters:
Crawford County Commissioners' Letters
Brad Roae's Letter
Michelle Brooks' Letter
John Evans' Letter
Robert D. Robbins' Letter
Meadville Mayor Soff's Letter