Orange County Register, Editorial,
October 22, 1998
From the Register web site at http://www.ocregister.com
Sounding off on El Toro
October 22, 1998
We've finally found an issue that many supporters and opponents of converting the El Toro Marine base into a commercial airport can agree: Monitoring noise levels during proposed test flights at the site is a waste of time and money.
Nevertheless, the county Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to give county staff 45 days to create a plan for measuring aircraft noise levels during a proposed two-day flight demonstration. The board, which also asked for data about night flights in any test, will vote on the test plans after staff responds to Tuesday's request.
The county staff devised the $2-million noise test so South County residents can stand in their backyards and hear the noise for themselves. The staff is opposed to testing the noise levels because the measurements would "not be scientifically viable," El Toro Master Development Program spokeswoman Ellen Cox Call told us.
Anti-airport forces agree that noise monitoring results would be unreliable, but say the whole flight test idea is suspect. Planes will follow a narrow path, Meg Walters told us; she's spokeswoman for the anti-airport El Toro Reuse Planning Authority. "Actual flights will vary widely," and the test aircraft do not reflect the large, noisy cargo planes that will fly in and out of the proposed airport throughout the night," she said. El Toro program manager Courtney Wiercioch disputed those contentions.
It's enough to make our heads spin. What seems certain is a test is unlikely to provide any definitive results or sway deeply entrenched opinions. Residents will get an idea of what some aircraft take offs and landings will sound like, but they will never be sure the test is in any way representative of real airport noise.
At the supervisors' meeting, airport opponent Tom Wilson voted against the measure. The other opponent, Todd Spitzer, voted for it. He told us that noise from the proposed airport -- slated to have 192 international, 300 domestic and 72 cargo flights daily -- cannot be measured in a small test. But he said his vote was a gesture to give county staff the chance to create a reasonable noise-test model.
We would have preferred if the El Toro issue had been settled in a free-market manner, with the Marine Corps cleaning up the base then selling the land to the highest bidder. Now that government is involved in developing a reuse plan, there's no way to avoid divisiveness. Both sides have good points: It would be unfair to harm property owners with noisy aircraft, but the county needs increased air capacity.
Honestly evaluating airport noise levels would seem like a good way to proceed. But there's no cost-effective way to do that. Ms. Call said it could cost up to $100 million for a full-scale airport noise test. A small-scale version will only fuel the public relations battle. Supporters will no doubt use it as proof of limited noise impact.
Asking reluctant county staff to provide a plan for measuring test noise, as the supervisors did on Tuesday, will only delay the matter. As Ms. Call made clear, the noise-monitoring analysis will express the staff's view that it's unreliable to measure noise from the two-day test.
By the time the deadline arrives, two supervisors races will have been decided, which could shift the board to an anti-airport tilt. The delay, then, may not be so bad in that citizens at least will know where the project stands politically before spending $2 million on a flight test of questionable reliability.