News - August 2000
News - August 2000OC Register, August 31, 2000
“County unable to block H vote”
Chicago Sun-Times, August 27, 2000 web posted
August 28
“Study: Cancer danger rises around O'Hare”
LA Times, August 28, 2000
“Irvine to Probe El Toro's Hazards”
Chicago Daily Herald, August 27, 2000
“Study says cancer risk is higher by airport”
Website Direct, August 26, 2000
No Jets at El Toro Family Day meets goals
LA Times, August 26, 2000
“Coalition Seeks Review of Data on El Toro Noise”
LA Times, August 25, 2000
“Airport Backers Going Over Voters' Heads”
“Proponents seeking Sacramento legislator to help amend law to
prohibit special election to repeal 1994 approval.”
Website Direct, August 24, 2000
ETRPA Requests County to Recirculate El Toro EIR
Website Direct, August 24, 2000
More Sacramento Scheming
Website Direct, August 22, 2000 11:30 AM
Board of Supervisors votes to approve lease.
Website direct, August 22, 2000
Spitzer Calls for El Toro Personnel Review
Supervisor Todd Spitzer seeks information on County staff that
withheld information from the Board.
OC Register, August 22, 2000
“El Toro plan's a year away”
LA Times, August 22, 2000
“Memo Warned County of Risks at El Toro”
“1997 note told staff members that possible environmental hazards
at the base could pose legal risks.”
Daily Pilot Community Commentary, August 22,
2000
“ Good job and good luck on extending airport limits”
Website Direct, August 21, 2000 8:00 PM FLASH
Sacramento Scheming
OC Register Commentary, August 20, 2000
“Solving the county's ‘Mestre memos mystery’” –
by Todd Spitzer
Website Direct, August 19, 2000
Smith gets Correa to block Irvine annexation
LA Times, August 16, 2000
“El Toro Lease Vote Delayed by Lack of Inspection”
“Staff never ordered an environmental assessment, which officials
say leaves county vulnerable to lawsuits.”
Website Direct, August 15, 2000 Updated
Today’s vote on Master Lease put off again
OC Register, August 14, 2000
“FAA study to help shape El Toro's future”
LA Times, August 13, 2000
“Election Day Also D-Day for El Toro?”
“Approach of new administration puts decisions on fast track,
with major ramifications for local airport plan.”
OC Register, Commentary, August 13, 2000
“Nixon National Park at El Toro?”
Newport Beach Daily Pilot, August 12, 2000
“Pilots suggest John Wayne expansion”
“Association criticizes El Toro approach patterns. El Toro backer
calls the pilots' arguments 'presumptuous.'”
Website Direct, August 12, 2000
John Wayne Airport Passenger Traffic Shows Virtually
No Growth
OC Register, August 11, 2000
“O.C. knew of El Toro noise risk”
“ A memo obtained by airport opponents shows a county consultant
feared problems from nighttime flights.”
Website Direct, August 11, 2000
AirLine Pilots Association shoots down latest airport
proposals
Website Direct, August 11, 2000
“Unsung Heroes” of Measure F honored at Spitzer
event
Website Direct, August 9, 2000
Newport Beach City Council moves ahead on extension
of JWA caps
Website Direct, August 8, 2000
No El Toro ballot measures this November
OC Register, August 8, 2000
“Airport layout called unsafe”
“FAA draft says the county's plan doesn't accommodate area's
busy airspace.”
KNX Radio, August 7, 2000
Editorial: An education on El Toro
LA Times, August 6, 2000
“Report to FAA Calls O.C.'s Latest El Toro Flight
Plan a No-Go”
“Runway design poses unworkable conflicts with other jets in
airspace, report says in new blow to backers.”
Website Direct, August 4, 2000
Signing of El Toro lease delayed again
Newport Beach Daily Pilot, August 3, 2000 - updated
August 4 and August 6
“Council hopes to extend airport restrictions”
“With the settlement agreement expiring in 2005, city will try
to keep John Wayne's flight limits for 20 more years.”
Website Direct, August 2, 2000
Family Fun Day Needs
Aviation Database, August 2, 2000
On this day in history
OC Register, August 2, 2000
“Supervisors delay vote on El Toro lease”
“An agreement with the Navy would allow golf and stable uses
to continue while banning interim aviation operations.”
OC Register, August 1, 2000 -UPDATED
“El Toro accord nears success”
(For full articles see L.A. Times at http://www.latimes.com and O.C. Register at http://www.ocregister.com/news/
On August 31, 1986, two planes flying near LAX, collided over Cerritos. The planes crashed into a residential neighborhood, killing all aboard the aircraft plus residents on the ground. Click here for photo and details.
One more reason why busy airports do not belong in residential areas.
“A Superior Court judge Wednesday rejected the county's motion to keep an initiative mandating a sharp increase in health spending off the November ballot… If H is approved,” a Deputy County counsel said a legal “challenge is a certainty.”
Parallels to the battle over the anti-airport Measure F, which passed in March, are numerous.
“Charles V. Smith, Cynthia Coad and Jim Silva - the supervisors who voted to challenge H's legality - also put a competing measure [G] on the ballot,” with their three signatures, bypassing the requirement to collect signatures on petitions. On the other hand, Measure H backers collected signatures to qualify their initiative.
Measure H allocates 80 percent of the tobacco settlement to health care. “Measure G would require that 42 percent of the tobacco windfall go to health, 40 percent to debt reduction and 18 percent to public safety. The county spends $40 million annually on health. Critics say other urban counties spend much more per capita. But the board majority says improving health care is not the only pressing need facing the county, which still has almost $1 billion in debt from its 1994 bankruptcy and is under court order to reduce jail overcrowding.”
Editor: It is likely that the three pro-airport supervisors will take another beating during this November’s Measure G and H campaign, will lose, and will then bring litigation against the will of the people. Sounds like Measure F and the airport all over again.
Write to the newspapers
about Supervisor Smith, Silva and Coad’s continuing efforts to thwart the
will of the people. If the county needs money, perhaps this is the
time to stop wasteful spending on an unneeded airport.
“Adding weight to the long-held suspicions of those living under flight paths and near runways, a new study suggests that the risk of getting cancer is higher in areas near O'Hare Airport because of toxic pollutants spewed by aircraft.” Click for full article.
“The study also found that airport-related health risks apparently extend
far beyond the suburbs circling O'Hare to the North Shore, Lake County
and a large chunk of Chicago.
The document shows that O'Hare ‘is the No. 1 toxic polluter in the
state of Illinois,’” according to a spokesman for the communities. ‘O'Hare
air toxic emissions alone cause cancer risks to exceed the federal health
goal of 1 cancer in 1 million people in 98 Chicago area communities including
the city of Chicago--covering an area of approximately 1,000 square miles.’”'
A resident of one of the towns “funding the new study, said she ‘absolutely believes’ the findings. ‘I know people who get that black sooty stuff all over their yard furniture,’ she said.”
Click for map of Orange County's area of Excess Incremental Lifetime Cancer Risk - from a report of Human Health Risks for the John Wayne and El Toro Internaitonal Airports.
See another Chicago newspaper report below.
“After spending more than $150 million on environmental cleanup, the Navy is confident that most of the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station is unpolluted, but Irvine officials have expressed concern over drainage ditches and an old sewer system used at the base.”
“’The city believes that a substantial amount of solvents used on the base could have been put down the sewer system, which was built in the 1940s using old technology,’ said Michael S. Brown, Irvine's environmental consultant.”
“Larry Agran, an Irvine council member and outspoken critic of the county's plans for an international airport at El Toro, said he senses that the county ‘in its zeal’ to grab El Toro property will basically ‘sell out the health and safety interests’ of county residents rather than fight to ensure that the base is cleaned up. Agran supports the Millennium Plan, an airport alternative that would convert the base into a large park, a college campus and museums.
“Board of Supervisors Chairman Chuck Smith, an airport supporter, said Agran's position was ridiculous. … Smith said that attempting to transform the land to the way it was before the base was built is unrealistic. ‘For [Agran] to expect to clean it up to the way it was before the base was there is impossible because we have landfills out there used for years and it's well known the Navy isn't going to clean it up for residential use,’ he said.”
“Air pollution from O'Hare International Airport raises cancer risks beyond acceptable levels for miles around the airfield, according to a study commissioned by neighboring suburbs. The study found that air toxins from planes at O'Hare raise cancer risks as much as 100 times beyond the federal target level of 1 in a million.”
“The highest risk was in communities closest to the airport, and those to the north and east, due to prevailing winds from the south and west. The study was done by environmental consultant Environ International Corp. of Arlington, Va., at the request of Park Ridge, Des Plaines, Itasca and Niles. Using numbers from a prior study commissioned by the city of Chicago last year, Environ used what it called EPA-standardized models of wind dispersion to calculate risk.”
“Environ's analysis of that study made the following conclusions:
“Risk levels reached 100 cases in 1 million at the end of runways 27L and 27R, which aim roughly between Bensenville and Schiller Park. The potential for non-cancer health problems at the airport's fence line were 23 times higher than background air in Naperville, a level which the federal EPA has classified as having ‘concern for potential health effects.’”
“The chemicals that contribute most significantly to risks at the fence line, such as aldehydes, benzene and naphthalene, are commonly found in aircraft emissions.”
“Officials from the city of Chicago could not comment on the report in detail because it was not due to be released publicly until today. But they stood by their own test of air quality, done by a consultant last year, which concluded that O'Hare contributed very little to air pollution in the area, compared to cars, industry and even home furnaces.”
“In June, the state EPA, after previously opposing such research, began a study of air quality around O'Hare that is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year, with preliminary results due out next month.”
Editor: A little noted, corroborating study, conducted for the County of Orange as part of the El Toro Environmental Impact Report, concluded that for the planned two-airport system, “The highest on-site excess lifetime cancer risks were 142 in a million for OCX and 216 in a million for JWA. Excess lifetime cancer risks at the residential MEIs [maximally exposed individuals] are predicted to be 56 in a million near OCX and 27 in a million near JWA.” These levels exceed EPA safety standards of 1 in a million.
An enthusiastic crowd, at the anti-airport event, today, heard Assemblywoman Pat Bates report that in Sacramento, "Measure F is legendary. The people of Orange County are legendary", for what the citizens have achieved in their fight against El Toro airport.
Pat told how pro-airport lobbyists and legislators are trying to jam last minute amendments through the legislature. She, and her vigilant staff, deserves much of the credit for blocking these moves, but she congratulated grass-roots supporters who have flooded the state capitol with messages.
The No Jets at El Toro event was initially conceived to be a fundraiser for the campaign against an airport initiative that Supervisors Smith, Silva and Coad were contemplating for the November 2000 ballot. When the three supervisors abandoned their ill-considered idea, the event was changed to a "fun day". It provided a chance for hundreds of activists - who had worked hard to pass Measure F - to socialize, have fun and keep in touch for any fight that may lie ahead. Four musical groups, lots of family activities, and good fellowship kept spirits high throughout the day.
The event was organized by Citizens for Safe and Healthy Communities under Chairman Bill Kogerman. Marion Pack was the project coordinator.
ETRPA “is asking Orange County officials to look again at how much noise would be created by jets landing there at night. The group based its request on memos from the county's airport noise consultant, Vince Mestre, which they obtained through a public-records request. Mestre said in one memo that airport noise would be ‘significant’ for thousands of South County residents unless there is a nighttime landing curfew or only the quietest jets are allowed to land after 11 p.m.”
“Rob Richardson, manager of the El Toro Redevelopment Authority, said Friday that supervisors are committed to making a commercial airport at the former base as quiet as possible for neighbors, including seeking restrictions on loud aircraft. Richard added that when supervisors do approve an environmental review of the proposed airport project--in about a year from now--they may decide to press the FAA for a nighttime flight curfew.”
Editor: A February 5, 2000 report from Alan Murphy, John Wayne Airport Director, to the FAA, obtained by ETRPA and this this website, shows cargo planes landing over Leisure World between 4 and 5 AM. The report gives the “detailed aircraft operational projections” for the airport’s first phase of operation in the years 2000-2005.
“Pro-El Toro airport forces have been quietly shopping for a legislator in Sacramento in an effort to amend state law to bar local voters from holding a special election to repeal a 1994 vote [Measure A] for a commercial airfield at the former Marine Corps base. The two-sentence proposal is blunt. It would revise the state elections code to prevent voters from amending or repealing in a special election "an initiative measure previously adopted by voters concerning the use of a closed military base."
“Airport backers are pushing to have the special-election proposal introduced before an Aug. 31 deadline to submit bills for the current legislative session. If not, they'll try again next year, said David Ellis, a consultant with the Airport Working Group, based in Newport Beach.”
“ In taking their cause to Sacramento, airport supporters clearly are hoping to find more friends in the Legislature than they have found lately among local voters. Their efforts illustrate the depths of official worries about the future of an El Toro airport at the ballot box: Public support for the airport proposal has shriveled since that 1994 approval.”
In addition to the Election Code amendment, the Times says, “Assembly Bill 1556, stalled in a Senate committee Thursday and isn't expected to be heard this year. The bill would bar the city of Irvine from annexing the El Toro base for at least 180 days after it is turned over to the county. … A Senate analysis of the bill posted Thursday on the Assembly's Web site said the county already can prevent Irvine's annexation request for the base, by declining to sign a needed property tax-exchange agreement.
“The bill was backed by County Supervisors Cynthia P. Coad, Jim Silva and Smith, and by many of the state's labor heavyweights, whose workers would benefit from union-guaranteed jobs building the airport. It was opposed by Orange County's three state senators and by [LAFCO] an association for state organizations that approve annexations.”
Editor: The Legislature’s website analysis also lists “approximately 850 individuals” as opposed to the bill. Most are believed to be viewers of this website who responded to an urgent request that they e-mail the Senate Committee.
Contending that "The county illegally withheld documents that demonstrate noise impacts and sleep disruption ... greater than previously disclosed.", ETRPA has asked the county to correct and recirculate the El Toro EIR.
Recirculation of the EIR will delay the County's planning process even further by requiring a minimum 45-day comment period. The county will then have to respond in writing to the comments and incorporate them into the final EIR.
The demand is based on information contained in the 600 pages of previously withheld "Mestre memos", obtained by ETRPA through a lawsuit under the Public Records Act. The county had sought to suppress the consultant's information - on sleep disturbance and other impacts - in part by having documents redirected to an outside attorney who withheld them, claiming attorney-client privilege.
Assemblyman Lou Correa's amendment of an unrelated bill, AB1556 - to prevent Irvine annexation of the El Toro base - was successfully slipped through the Assembly in the last minute rush towards adjournment.
It is now in the State Senate. At first it was headed for the Senate Local Government Committee for policy review but has now been switched to the Appropriations Committee. Democrat Correa is pushing it with the endorsements of numerous labor unions and the three pro-airport supervisors.
Correa is also pushing an amendment to the State Election code that would block the voters from overturning Measure A, the voter initiative that originally zoned El Toro for aviation use back in 1994. We've seen a draft of this, stating that the "Orange County Board of Supervisors is requesting this amendment." There is a good chance that this amendment is unconstitutional.
Supervisor Smith, his assistant James Campbell, and George Argyros political consultants have all been in evidence in Sacramento. Other attempted bills and amendments are being shopped around for sponsors in this closing crush of legislation, which one analyst has referred to as the Legislature's "silly season".
Congratulations to Jack Weber of Irvine who got a letter in the August 24th OC Register about this subject. The reporters and editorial writers of both major papers have been very silent on this important matter.
At this morning's Board meeting, the Master Lease was approved for continued interim non-aviation reuse of the base. The vote was 5-0. Reaction was upbeat in the anti-airport camp, as well as amongst the residents who use the stables, RV lot, school and other base facilties.
The lease states, "4.3 Leased Premises shall not be used for aircraft operations of any kind." While any contract can be amended by the two parties, airport opponents are in a much stronger position during future negotiations by having this language included.
Attorney Rich Jacobs, who drafted Measure F, says that future removal of Section 4.3 from the lease will require approval of 2/3 of the voters under the terms of the initiative.
Airport proponents had tried unsuccessfully, during the past several months, to get exemptions for postal service aircraft, sheriffs helicopters and other aircraft operations. Supervisor Chuck Smith reportedly lobbied for aircraft operations during visits to the Navy in Washington, prior to his reaching a "compromise" with Supervisor Tom Wilson on the present lease language.
District 3 Press release – “In an effort to resolve the deception that stems from the past El Toro planning process, Supervisor Todd Spitzer has requested that the interim County Executive Officer and the interim director of the Local Redevelopment Authority (LRA) investigate current and past El Toro personnel to determine who has been responsible for withholding important information that the Board has been requesting, as well as documents that should have been brought to the Board’s attention without request.”
“Just yesterday, Supervisor Spitzer received a copy of two County memos … exchanged between two top County staff members, in 1997 and 1998, [which] identify virtually all the environmental concerns the Board … introduced during last week’s meeting as they related to the master lease. The documents were carbon copied to several members of County staff including El Toro special counsel.”
“’As we dig deeper, I suspect that we will find that high level
County officials were, indeed, involved in this massive cover-up,’ stated
Spitzer. It is important that this Board and County staff understand
in no uncertain terms, that appropriate personnel actions may result.
If the facts result in gross or reckless negligence by staff, the Board
needs to fully understand its options,’ stated Spitzer.”
“County planning for an El Toro airport won't be finished until September 2001 - almost two years later than earlier estimates, according to the latest schedule for the controversial airport project. Even that target may prove elusive. The new timetable does not consider any possible delays caused by Measure F - or by any legal challenges to the county environmental-impact reports. The current timetable includes the following:”
“Although Orange County officials said they were surprised to learn recently that they might be saddled with legal liability over environmental hazards at the former El Toro base, internal county memos show that such concerns had been raised nearly three years ago by county staff. County supervisors said last week that they were upset that their staff had never conducted an environmental assessment of the property… The failure to make such a review might make the county liable for environmental risks, according to one of the county's outside legal consultants.”
“But in a memo dated Oct. 28, 1997, county in-house counsel Richard Oviedo warned Gary Simon, a top official overseeing the El Toro project, of ‘unanticipated contamination’ that ‘can result in severe consequential damages to the [county] or its subtenants.’”
“The release of the memos drew fresh criticism Monday from airport opponents, who accused county staff members of deliberately dragging their feet to sabotage a lease with the Navy that would allow money-making programs such as housing, horse stables, golf and child care at the base… [ETRPA spokesperson Meg] Waters said she believed the county purposely stalled lease preparation because of the board's pro-airport majority and to eliminate any possibility that enterprises other than an airport could operate there.”
“ Threat of the [John Wayne] airport's expansion poses a far greater effect on this city's quality of life than any other issue, bar none. The council must remember the agreement is a court-sanctioned pact, and extending it would require confirmation from the court and the parties involved. As that process unfolds, many believe the airline industry will weigh in and ask the court to increase flights. That action is very probable, because the environmental study that could make way for the expansion contemplated a 10.2-million passenger capacity per year.”
“The federal government does not control land-use restriction surrounding the facility. Instead, land-use decisions belong to local jurisdictions: the county; the cities of Costa Mesa, Irvine and Newport Beach; and, one could argue, the cities of Santa Ana and Tustin. Thus the Newport Beach City Council should consider working with those jurisdictions to control airport growth. I suggest a contract be crafted among the county and the aforementioned cities to change their general plans for land around the airport.”
Pro-airport supervisors are still trying to thwart the will of the people. The battleground has shifted to Sacramento.
Floating around the California State Assembly is an amendment - looking for a bill to get attached to - that would disallow a vote of the people on any airport. It would give all authority to the Board of Supervisors. It's a blatant attempt to circumvent Measure F, which gives the final decision power to the voters.
Pro-airport forces are also pushing an amendment to the Elections Code Section 9116 to block voters from overturning Measure A, which was narrowly passed by voters in 1994, and zones El Toro for aviation use.
Another amendment, attached to an unrelated AB1556 regarding outdoor advertising, would block Irvine’s annexation of the El Toro base. Assemblyman Lou Correa reportedly introduced this amendment. If passed, and signed by the Governor, it would doom any attempt to turn the property into a park.
The bills probably are being pushed among Republicans by George Argyros and pushed among Democrats by organized labor (as payback for Smith, Silva and Coad signing a Project Labor Agreement with the unions). Supervisor Chuck Smith was in Sacramento recently and presumably is involved with these bills.
This is an outrage and an insult to the voters. Here’s what to do:
1. Flood Supervisor Smith’s office with calls. Object to any lobbying
in Sacramento for anti-democratic legislation. (714) 834-3110
2. E-mail all supervisors
asking that they respect the voters’ right to chose as mandated by the
landslide passage of Measure F.
3. Click here for
information to send an urgent message to the State Senate Committee
on Local Affairs.
Supervisor Spitzer writes, “The dominos continue to fall in the long trail or deception that will continue to surface as we dig deeper.”
Shortly after the June 1999 aircraft noise demonstrations, “Vince Mestre, the contractor hired to design and administer the noise monitoring was scheduled to present his findings to the Board of Supervisors. Supervisor Tom Wilson and I made it very clear, before the meeting, that we had serious questions about the flight demonstration. On the day of the meeting, however, Mestre failed to show up… I have finally discovered why he was told to not show up. The information in Mestre’s report had been altered by county staff to support the pro-airport position and was purposely manipulated to help them advocate for an airport.”
“Whenever expensive data is deafened to integrity, truth and accuracy, the end result will produce another tool of deception, funded by both Orange County taxpayers and a significantly dwindling John Wayne Airport enterprise fund.”
Editor: Sorry Register, but the correct spelling of the consultant’s name is Mestre, not "Maestre".
I’ve reviewed the 600 pages of “Mestre documents”, obtained by ETRPA through a lawsuit under the Public Records Act. They show Mestre, a professional consultant, repeatedly trying to make technically correct statements in his reports - on topics such as sleep deprivation which will be a serious impact around El Toro - while county political handlers systematically seek to hide the truth.
The contents of the documents will be made public over the weeks ahead as their analysis proceeds, and as still missing papers are obtained.
Yesterday, it was learned that Supervisor Charles Smith had recruited California Assemblyman Leo Correa, (D) 69th District, to amend Assembly Bill AB1556 in an effort to block Irvine’s annexation of the El Toro property. The status of the bill’s passage is unknown at this moment. Annexation of the base to the City of Irvine is one of several tactics being pushed by anti-airport forces.
The El Toro property is in Irvine’s “sphere of influence” and a portion of the base is within city limits. Annexation within a state-defined sphere of influence is routinely done, and the city has been pursuing this course of action. Once the land is incorporated into a city, the county general plan - as amended by Measure A in 1994 to designate El Toro for an airport - would no longer apply. Irvine could zone it for non-aviation use.
Smith was in Sacramento on August 9 and 10, apparently working on this behind the backs of his Board colleagues. Supervisor Tom Wilson had asked Smith to not use the push to utilize the vacant base housing as an excuse for an anti-annexation effort. The county has been grappling with the fact that occupants of base housing could vote for annexation.
Correa’s support is seen as related to the three pro-airport supervisors’ approval of a pro-union Project Labor Agreement covering most county public works projects. Correa and other Assembly Democrats have strong ties with organized labor. Correa’s district covers Garden Grove, Anaheim, Santa Ana and parts of Orange and Fountain Valley. Residents of his district who oppose the airport or support annexation should send polite messages, including their address. His e-mail address is Assemblymember.Correa@assembly.ca.gov
“Ready to approve a lease allowing Orange County to run the El Toro base, frustrated supervisors learned Tuesday that their staff had never conducted an environmental assessment of the property, making the county potentially liable for environmental damage…’Why would anyone in their right mind buy a home without doing an inspection?’” Supervisor Todd Spitzer asked.
“News that the county had dragged its feet for more than two years and failed to get a license to conduct the assessment was disclosed Monday at the supervisors' staff briefing--just weeks before the Navy's Sept. 1 lease deadline.”
“Board Chairman Chuck Smith “expressed frustration with the county's inactivity and the Navy's lease language. Not only did county staff fail to conduct an environmental assessment, but Smith said internal planning on the base lease stopped from April 1999 through June 2000, a fact also disclosed at Monday's briefing. ‘We were very upset that no lease negotiations were going on,’ Smith said. ‘The entire blame lies with the county.’”
“Why county staff failed to do their job is uncertain. Both former County Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier and Michael L. Lapin, manager for the airport planning process, are no longer employed by the county.” See more on this story below.
Board of Supervisor approval of the Master Lease for El Toro, set for today, endured yet another delay. Supervisors put off action until next Tuesday. Approval of the interim lease for non-aviation use of the base has been postponed repeatedly.
Environmental protection language, put in the contract by the Navy, was given as the last-minute reason for holding up action. The county’s long-time environmental consultants advised supervisors yesterday that they had concerns about the Navy’s wording on environmental protection and responsibility. The language in question has been in the lease drafts for about two years as the negotiations dragged on. There was no explanation as to why the issues have surfaced at the last minute.
Supervisor Todd Spitzer was outspoken about the risks to the county of accepting the property - risks that have not been adequately examined. The interim lease period could provide an opportunity for additional environmental evaluation.
Airport opponents suspect pro-airport motives for the continued delay.
In
a strongly worded news release, Supervisor Tom Wilson suggested
that the pro-airport majority is prepared to see the base closed – and
community activities such as the stables, golf course and pre-school shut.
This may be part of a strategy to force early transfer of the property
from the Navy to the county. Others suspect that the county is just
hoping to stall, until after a court ruling, due September 11, on the validity
of Measure F.
“The Federal Aviation Administration is about to launch a study of the skies over Southern California that will help determine how - or if - an El Toro airport would fit into the regional airspace system. The study - which should begin this fall and take about six months to complete - will look at how flights currently move in and out of the area. It will then look at the expected growth in air traffic by 2020 and make recommendations on how the FAA can best manage flights over Southern California in the future - with or without an El Toro airport.”
“Though not directly the focus of this study, the future of El Toro could be greatly affected by what it determines. Airport opponents have long argued that the region's skies already are too crowded for an El Toro airport to join the mix.”
“’I think it's a smoke screen to say you can't have this airport because of the airspace, because we're in the process of revising the airspace,’ said El Segundo Mayor Mike Gordon, who favors El Toro as a way to slow Los Angeles' planned expansion of LAX.”
“Leaders of [ETRPA] a coalition of cities opposed to El Toro said they welcome the FAA study. ‘I feel confident they'll find that putting a commercial airport at El Toro does not contribute to a safe flow of traffic in the area,’ said Tom O'Malley, coalition deputy director.”
“O'Malley said - as many airport opponents have argued - that if the northern departures prove unworkable, the county will resort to less palatable choices, such as departing to the north but turning left soon after takeoff, creating more noise for more people.”
“The November presidential election could play a pivotal role in the fate of an airport being planned at the closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, as decisions about the base's future loom in Washington. While the county wrestles with growing opposition to its airport plan, the federal government is on a separate schedule to dispose of the 4,700-acre base and turn over the property to the county.”
“ Defense and Navy officials who have dealt with El Toro since the airport plan was submitted in 1996 probably will be leaving after January 2001 with the arrival of a new administration in Washington, regardless of party. Many of those same officials want the property's fate resolved before they leave and have grown increasingly frustrated by the years of controversy and uncertainty. Their decisions over the next five months could have an enormous impact on the ability of either pro- or anti-airport forces to fulfill their visions for the base.”
“The federal government has been on track for four years to turn over the El Toro base for a regional airport, based on the 1994 countywide vote [on Measure A]. If the community changes its mind after El Toro is handed over, the onus probably will fall on the county to pay any additional costs for the change in plan. That could mean millions of dollars for additional cleanup to ready the base for commercial, residential or even park use rather than an airfield.”
“Though the federal government is obligated to clean up all military installations--and El Toro is one of the country's most polluted bases and a federal Superfund site--that responsibility doesn't come with a timetable. Cleanup costs are budgeted, and Congress just cut $150 million from the Defense Department's cleanup fund.”
“Navy officials were more circumspect about how the ongoing controversy over the airport could affect the El Toro property and the cleanup plan. William J. Cassidy, deputy assistant secretary of conversion and redevelopment, said the Navy is monitoring events in Orange County and intends to work with local officials. ‘The Navy is a patient organization,’ Cassidy said. ‘I think these matters will work themselves out.’”
Tom Fuentes, Chairman of the Orange County Republican Party, writes in a guest column that, “Both public opinion polls and recent official ballot results dramatically demonstrate that the people of Orange County do not want a giant international airport at El Toro…. The present Board of Supervisors badly need a new idea.”
Fuentes’ article says the late Ronald W. Caspers “provided a model for the future of the former Marine base.” Caspers, a former South County supervisor, pushed for projects such as the 5000 acre wilderness park named in his honor, preservation of the Upper Newport Bay, and protection of ocean views in Laguna Beach.
The article concludes that, “With Saddleback Mountain in the distance, and the local foothills as a backdrop, and urban national park in Orange County could be a dream come true.”
“An association of airline pilots has expressed serious concerns about the feasibility of certain approach patternsat the proposed El Toro airport and has suggested that John Wayne Airport expansion might be a better alternative. The Air Line Pilots Assn. International, a Virginia-based organization that says it represents more than 56,000 American and Canadian pilots, wrote in late July to Orange County officials to voice its worries.”
“Specifically, the group said it has concerns that flights landing in a southerly direction during bad weather would have to cope with nearby mountains, making the approach angle excessively steep. ‘The bottom line,’ said Capt. Jon Russell, Western Pacific regional safety chairman for the association, is that the proposed airport would be ‘extremely limited in its ability to accommodate aircraft in poor visibility. This thing has severe limitations that would force airplanes to divert to other airports in the event that you have even marginal weather.’”
“’A better alternative, the group suggested, would be ‘an acceptable expansion of the John Wayne-Orange County Airport.’”
“’For the pilots at this point to presuppose that they know the final approach corridor and glide slope is presumptuous,’ [Tom Wall] said. Newport Beach Mayor John Noyes said the logic linking the group's criticism of El Toro to its advocacy of growth at John Wayne seemed flawed. ‘The immediate answer isn't to expand John Wayne,’ said, Noyes, who has been at the forefront of an effort to extend existing restrictions on the flights allowed into the airport. ‘There may be other options in or out of the county.’”
Editor: Newport Beach Mayor Noyes reference to airports ‘out of the county’ is new and interesting.
Four and a half years of data, on passenger traffic at John Wayne Airport, has been brought together in one place by this website. The data, when graphically displayed, shows virtually no growth since 1996.
Airport use is capped, by a 1985 agreement between the county and Newport Beach, at 8.4 million annual passengers (MAP). That is an average of 700,000 per month. Traffic rarely reaches the latter figure. The airport operates under a “Commercial Airline Access Plan and Regulation” that annually allocates seats to be flown by each airline. Airport management withdraws some of the allocated capacity, if necessary, to keep actual passenger count below the 8.4 million cap.
Thanks to a busy June 2000, the passenger count for the last twelve months reached almost 7.8 MAP.
The City of Newport Beach is seeking to have the caps, which expire in 2005, extended at the current level until 2025.
“The Orange County noise expert hired to study the proposed El Toro airport warned last year against underestimating the effect of night flights on sleeping residents, according to a memo obtained by airport opponents.”
“The memo was among 600 pages of previously undisclosed documents airport opponents received last week, months after they sued the county for denying their requests for public records. The opponents said the documents show a pattern by the county of trying to hide any potentially negative effects of the airport project.”
Editor: The letter, originally written by noise consultant Vince Mestre to El Toro Program manager Courtney Wiercioch, was reportedly destroyed by her. She directed that it be readdressed to Michael Gatzke, the county's special attorney on El Toro. The revised version addressed to the lawyer still began with the greeting, “Courtney”. The memo was withheld from Supervisor Tom Wilson, by Jan Mittermeier, citing “attorney-client privilege”.
“To reduce the effect of night flights on sleep, Mestre said, the county needed ‘a night restriction that includes a complete limit on night arrivals or limits operations to the quietest of the aircraft in the fleet.’”
“Curfews - are extremely difficult to get from the Federal Aviation Administration. [Lead airport planner Brian] Speegle said the county hopes to get permission from the FAA for such restrictions, similar to those at John Wayne Airport, set to expire in 2005. If the county cannot, ‘then the impact would remain significant, with no mitigation,’ Speegle said. ‘A larger percentage of people would be affected by sleep disturbances.’”
A July 25 letter from the AirLine Pilots Association to the county was made public, but not by county officials who continue to play “hide the ball”.
The letter, mailed from ALPA headquarters, criticizes two flight path alternatives being considered by the county. Pro-airport leaders have been searching for a substitute for the current plan, which calls for risky takeoffs directly into the mountains.
The new ALPA letter objects to these latest alternative plans, which call for landings coming in over the mountains. “ALPA has reviewed both the McGowan and Griffin Plans. We commend these gentlemen on their dedication to cultivate solutions to the numerous problems surrounding the development of the El Toro Airport. However, these plans are not without serious and specific limitations.” The letter continues with extensive technical objections.
The pilots association concludes, “ALPA remains in favor of a properly developed and safe plan for the El Toro Airport, one that maintains an acceptable level of safety. ALPA cannot accept an operational plan for El Toro that reduces the level of safety to less than that of the present John Wayne–Orange County Airport. As always, we offer our services to assist in developing a safe plan. If an acceptable and safe plan cannot be developed for El Toro operations, then we suggest that an acceptable expansion of the John Wayne – Orange County Airport be considered.”
A happy crowd of almost 250 turned out at the Coach House to recognize the contributions made by many “unsung heroes” of the anti-airport effort and Measure F campaign. Supervisors Todd Spitzer and Tom Wilson were on hand to congratulate the volunteers for their efforts.
Click here for the names of those who received certificates of commendation at the event.
Last night, the Newport Beach City Council voted 4-0 to adopt a resolution seeking cooperation from the county on extending the John Wayne Airport caps to the year 2025. The caps, which include a limit of 8.4 million annual passengers (MAP), will expire in 2005.
The resolution asks, “Supervisor Tom Wilson and the Orange County Board of Supervisors to support the preparation of an environmental document by the City of Newport Beach that evaluates the impacts of an amendment of the JWA Settlement Agreement to extend the term with no change to the current legally permissible and authorized level of operations." Click here to read the full text and the Newport Beach Aviation policy, which advocates a commercial airport at El Toro.
The City of Newport Beach is a plaintiff in a lawsuit to overturn Measure F. The lawsuit is scheduled for a court hearing on September 11. Measure F seeks to protect all residents countywide from new airport construction. The Newport Beach resolution seeks to protect only those who live near John Wayne. Click here to express your opinions on this matter to the newspapers.
With the conclusion of the last Board of Supervisors meeting before the August 11 deadline for placing initiatives on the November ballot, a faint sigh of relief was heard in Orange County. There will be no new El Toro measure before the voters this year.
Soon after the landslide passage of Measure F, the three pro-airport supervisors were talking up the idea of a “non-binding advisory vote” on the airport, to see if the public really meant it. That idea slowly sank along with the airport itself, which seems to be in deeper trouble than ever. Airport planning is in such disarray that no one could have a clear picture of what they were voting for or against. Also off the table are a Great Parks initiative promoted by some in Irvine, and a measure once floated by the South Orange County Community College District to have its own anti-airport advisory vote.
Now we can just look forward to hearing dozens of candidates for local office claiming that they are more anti-airport than the next guy.
Oh yes, the Board of Supervisors again put off approving a Master Lease for interim use of the base property.
“A draft report by a Federal Aviation Administration consultant agrees with what many critics of the proposed El Toro airport have said for years: the planned runways and flight paths will not work as safely or efficiently as promised by the county.”
“The county plan calls for commercial passenger jets to depart El Toro to the east and the north, but there are serious problems with that plan, according to the preliminary report from the FAA's Center for Advanced Aviation System Development, which is operated by the consultant MITRE Corp. Flights to the north seem to ‘require the use of airspace that is not available’ in the crowded Southern California skies, the report states.”
“On flights to the east, ‘heavily loaded aircraft, especially on hot days, may not be able to climb at a rate sufficient for ... departures.’”
“Airport opponents seized upon the report as proof the county plan is unworkable. ‘Obviously, it turns the county's plans on its head,’ said Supervisor Todd Spitzer… Like Spitzer, Paul Eckles, executive director of [ETRPA] a coalition of anti-airport cities, said the report could force the county to consider politically unpopular alternative plans that might send departures over more homes or land planned for future Irvine Co. developments.”
According to the report, “Every takeoff to the north would come closer than recommended to flights in the arrival path for John Wayne Airport. And northern departures also would have to climb above 13,000 feet by the time they were 13 miles out - a steep rate of climb - to avoid clashes with arriving flights for Los Angeles International Airport.”
“The report also said it appears the county would need a new runway plan for El Toro to be an airport, either using different runways for departures or revising its northern departure plan in some unspecified way. The pilots association has recommended rotating the northern runway to send aircraft slightly northwest from El Toro.”
“’The FAA will only allow airports that are safe, so I'll just wait for their final report,’ said Supervisor Cynthia Coad, who supports an airport. ‘I'm just confident that the FAA will find the right pattern.’… FAA officials declined to comment on Monday.”
Rob Richardson, the interim director of the county El Toro program, said the county has not yet received a copy of the report - which he said apparently was leaked by the FAA or its consultant - but will analyze it when it is available. See LA Times story below.
Editor: A Freedom of Information Act request shows that Alan Murphy of John Wayne Airport submitted a “Technical Memorandum, Operational Data Requested by the FAA” to the FAA Western Pacific Regional Administrator on February 3, apparently providing data used in the analysis.
"Last week, the KNX Editorial Board received an education on the proposed commercial airport [at El Toro.] ... it appears noise and safety restrictions with the El Toro property will be difficult to overcome."
"The alternative answer though appears simple. Currently John Wayne Airport has the ability to carry more passengers, but Orange County officials need to lift the restrictions so planes can fly full. This will give Orange County air travelers more options and will likely keep them flying out of John Wayne."
"KNX sees this as the prudent course of action."
Editor: Tomorrow, August 8, the Newport Beach City Council has agendized a resolution asking the Board of Supervisors to help them to extend the present limits on John Wayne utilization for 20 more years, from the present expiration date of 2005, all the way out to 2025. At the very same time, they are suing to overturn Measure F. They are trying to protect their city, while litigating to remove the safeguards for residents elsewhere in the county. The only politically realistic approach is to work with South County to protect all residents of the county from airport noise, traffic and pollution. Write to the newspapers if the Newport Beach actions seem unfair.
“Orange County's plan for an airport at the former El Toro Marine base is unworkable as currently designed, according to an analysis commissioned by the Federal Aviation Administration that calls into question the county's plan to have departing flights take off to the north and east. Airspace to the north of the proposed El Toro airport is saturated with incoming jets preparing to land at John Wayne Airport, Los Angeles International Airport and Long Beach Airport, according to the draft report by the Center for Advanced Aviation System Development in McLean, Va.”
“Some planes could depart to the east …but only smaller jets that were not heavily loaded with passengers and fuel, the report said. Larger aircraft wouldn't be able to climb high enough to clear nearby hills and Santiago Peak.”
"’Some [other] means of accommodating [takeoffs] will be necessary," the report said. "This may be a redesigned departure procedure [to the north], or perhaps the use of some other runway’" [such as the runway to the west over Irvine].
“The report's conclusions raise troubling questions about the county's design for an airport at the closed air base. Pilots groups and representatives from the nation's air-traffic controllers union have warned that the county's plan is unsafe.
“Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairman Chuck Smith said it would be premature to comment on the airspace study until it is complete. FAA officials wouldn't comment on the report other than to say its overall airport analysis isn't complete.”
“County aviation consultants reported in January that as many as 150 planes leaving El Toro to the north would be forced to pass ‘over, under or through’ the takeoff and landing routes of other airports -- compounding issues of safety and raising the prospect of increased flight delays. Southern California airspace already is among the most crowded in the world. “
The FAA-sponsored study took actual Southern California flight activity from April 13 and plugged it into a computer model with another 156 operations a day--78 arrivals and 78 departures--from El Toro. The result: Every plane leaving El Toro to the north found itself crossing over or near a conflicting flight path immediately after takeoff. An El Toro airport at full operation would create even more ‘flight-path convergence’ problems, the report indicated. The airport is expected to have more than 800 aircraft takeoffs and landings a day when it reaches capacity in 2020.”
“Retired airline pilot Robert E. McGowan, who opposes the county's current airport design, said the latest FAA-sponsored study confirms that the county's plan won't fly. ‘It's what I've been telling them for two years, that you're doing it backward,’ said McGowan, mayor of Villa Park. ‘They're trying to drive the wrong way down the freeway.’ McGowan has proposed flipping the flight patterns, with planes landing from the north and departing to the south.”
“The only other northern flight path studied by the county calls for planes to make a U-turn after takeoff, a maneuver occasionally used by the military to keep jets from flying too close to traffic into John Wayne Airport. However, the flight path requires planes to turn south above North Tustin and Irvine--a route that would drastically increase noise over homes.”
“ Supervisor Tom Wilson… said he was told about the airspace analysis this last week during a meeting with FAA officials in Washington, D.C. Wilson said he was told the final report was forwarded to county staff in June; attempts to obtain a copy were unsuccessful, he said. El Toro spokesman John Christensen said he attempted to get the final report for Wilson but couldn't find anyone at the county who received it.”
Signing of the Master Lease for interim use of the closed Marine base will not be on the Board of Supervisors' agenda this coming Tuesday. Delays in receiving documents from the Navy, and a need to review environmental issues, are cited as reasons for the delay.
In response to numerous questions from website viewers, we note that the lease, and any future amendments, needs approval from only 3 of 5 supervisors. The requirement for a 4 vote super majority applies to long-term contracts that are awarded without competitive bidding. For example, subleasing portions of the base without getting competitive bids would require 4 votes for approval.
“NEWPORT BEACH -- While plans for an airport at El Toro remain uncertain, the City Council on Tuesday will redouble its efforts to extend the curfew and flight restrictions at John Wayne Airport to the end of 2025. Three months ago, Mayor John Noyes announced that he and the council would urge the Orange County Board of Supervisors to extend the terms of a 1985 settlement agreement -- set to expire in 2005 -- that limits the number of flights and passengers at the airport.”
“The council's first step will be a resolution urging Orange County supervisors to get on board with the project. However, it may not be so easy, or legal, to extend the settlement agreement. Federal laws passed since 1985 prohibit regional airport restrictions, such as the curfew and limits on certain aircraft that are imposed at John Wayne.”
Editor: The City Council resolution states that "The City Council of the City of Newport Beach hereby requests Supervisor Tom Wilson and the Orange County Board of Supervisors: 1. To support the preparation of an environmental document by the City of Newport Beach that evaluates the impacts of an amendment of the JWA Settlement Agreement to extend the term with no change to the current legally permissible and authorized level of operations."
“’I think this is absolutely where the focus of energy should be right now,’ said former Newport Beach mayor Tom Edwards, who helped secure the original settlement agreement. ‘We've got to take care of ourselves first. I still believe El Toro is a solution.’”
“Newport may need to enlist anti-El Toro South County to its cause…. South County residents who oppose an airport at the former Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro have long said they would help Newport Beach in its efforts to maintain limits at John Wayne -- on one condition. ‘[The El Toro Reuse Planning Authority] applauds and supports that effort and we hope they will then join us,’ said Meg Waters, spokeswoman for the coalition of South County cities. ‘We have offered to help them in that effort, providing they help us. We think it would be the height of hypocrisy to get their restrictions and then impose an airport on our community.’”
Click for Newport Beach agenda item and the city's Airport Policy.
Editor: Measure F requires a two-thirds vote before El Toro Airport could be built or John Wayne operations could be expanded. Newport Beach is suing to overthrow Measure F. The City Council is trying to get the John Wayne restrictions without the El Toro restrictions.
Maintaining night time curfews is a humane move. However, if John Wayne continues at its current level of under utilization - with absolutely no increase in the passenger cap - there will be increased pressure to build El Toro as the only way to accommodate future growth in Orange County aviation demand. Insistence that O.C. do its share will come from many sources including the Southern California Association of Governments, airlines, the FAA and the communities near LAX.
Supervisor Tom Wilson is quoted in the Register as supportive of the Newport Beach effort. However, Wilson said that he will not support a continuation of the passenger cap at its current level. Write to him, and to Todd Spitzer, if you believe that a deal on John Wayne airport must be linked to one on El Toro.
We have this request from Marion Pack, Project Coordinator for the No Jets at El Toro Family Fun Day: Please call Marion at 949-768-4583.
1. A bike rider with a bike and odometer to help lay out length of walk/run/ride and water stops. This is REALLY needed!
2. People with medical training for the First Aid Station.
3. A flat-bed truck that can double as a stage.
4. A water truck or tank on trailer. Our location had no water for the petting zoo animals, pony rides and the dunk tank. Contractors usually have these.
5. Access to chairs and 6ft or 8ft tables, possibly borrowed from a church, recreation room, or community center? We need 25 tables and about 100 chairs.
A Lockheed L-1011 Tristar operated by Delta Airlines crashed on approach to Dallas/Fort Worth Airport on August 2, 1985, killing 134 people on the plane and one on the ground. The aircraft crashed short of the runway while attempting to land. Descending through 600 feet, the aircraft encountered severe microburst induced windshear and was pushed toward the ground. Despite the application of maximum power by the crew, the aircraft touched down in a field, careened across a busy highway snapping off light posts, and struck a car with its no.1 engine, killing the occupant. The aircraft then entered the airport property with a groundspeed of 212 knots and impacted two 4 million gallon water towers. The NTSB cited known flight into severe weather conditions for causing the accident.
“County supervisors delayed until next week a vote on an El Toro master lease… Supervisors need to complete a lease with the Navy before the end of the month to make sure that community programs - such as stables and golf - are not halted.”
“Supervisors Tom Wilson and Charles V. Smith .. reached a compromise on lease language they believe will allow the board to go ahead with a five-year agreement with the Navy. Wilson and airport opponents are pleased that the proposed lease language bans interim aviation operations. Smith and airport backers are satisfied that the lease can be reviewed annually, which leaves open the door to aviation.”
“Interim aviation would still be prohibited at the base without a two-thirds vote of the public as long as Measure F remains in effect.”
“County supervisors are poised to approve a five-year master lease for El Toro today that would allow the county to rent more of the former Marine base while banning interim aviation. Aircraft operations, however, could be added to the lease as soon as next year, when the agreement with the Navy would be up for annual review.” Update: The matter is held over to the next Board meeting on August 8.
“Supervisors have struggled for months to sign a lease with the Navy. In June, stalled talks threatened the future of El Toro public programs - such as golf and stables - before the Navy extended the current lease to the end of August. Since then, airport opponents and advocates have wrangled over whether the lease should allow or prohibit aviation at the base before the county takes title - expected in several years.”
“Supervisors Charles V. Smith and Tom Wilson last week reached a compromise: The lease will not initially include aviation, but at its annual renewal, it could be amended. ’It accommodates both sides - that's the goal,’ Wilson said.”
Editor: Click to read the Navy draft lease provided to the county last week for approval. Any proposed future amendment would be subject to review for conformance to Measure F. Section 6A of Measure F does not allow the county to approve a lease “to permit or facilitate” aviation use.
Click here for previous news stories
