The Case Against El Toro International Airport
A Summary of Project 99's 1568 Comments on the County's El Toro Community Reuse Plan and DEIR
Two centuries ago, Americans first arose to defend their communities.
New England colonists protested in the 1760s when the British government imposed increasingly draconian writs, taxes and laws on the American colonists who held a stake in the future of the New World. King George III and the Parliament viewed the Americans as disobedient children, whose unquestioning loyalty to a distant tyrant must be compelled.
By the 1770s, King George began sending tens of thousands of troops into New England to enforce his government's edicts. The colonists rebelled. From educated townspeople to simple farmers, they poured into Boston to fight imperial rule. A message had to be sent -- Americans have the right to defend their communities from unjust laws and decrees. These stakeholders had the right to govern themselves and determine their own future.
They became known as the Sons of Liberty. History calls them Patriots. Their fierce determination spread like wildfire throughout the colonies, setting an example for those too timid to fight for their sovereignty. In July 1776, while a nascent Continental Army under George Washington prepared to battle impossible odds, the thirteen colonies declared their independence from England.
Those brave revolutionaries demonstrated to future generations that we have not just the right, but the responsibility, to stand up when unjust circumstances are imposed upon us from without. As Americans, it's our birthright, our inheritance, indeed our obligation to honor the principles of self-rule at the heart of the American Revolution.
Two centuries later, here in Irvine and South Orange County, the circumstances are far less dire, yet these principles must be asserted and defended once again.
Twenty-five years after Irvine's incorporation, a new threat is being imposed on us from without. A few wealthy developers have poured millions of dollars into political campaigns that attempt to force the construction in our backyard of El Toro International Airport -- the nation's fifth largest commercial airport. This airport would mean over 1,200 passenger and cargo flights arriving and departing every day over our homes -- causing huge increases in air pollution, traffic and noise. Our quality of life would be devastated.
Just as King George tried to deny American colonists effective political representation, so today have the people of Irvine and other nearby communities been denied the right to choose their future. Just as the Patriots did over two centuries ago, so today are South Orange County residents empowering themselves to fight for their sovereignty.
In 1993, the federal government decided to close the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) El Toro in 1999. The Federal Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 requires that a "Community Reuse Plan" be prepared by a federally recognized Local Redevelopment Agency (LRA) to create plans for closing bases.
The County of Orange, along with the City of Irvine and the City of Lake Forest, formed a planning agency called the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority (ETRPA). This nine-member board was intended to provide a balanced process for determining MCAS El Toro's future, incorporating the concerns of the residents in the two most affected cities. The Pentagon recognized ETRPA as the official LRA for the base.
But that wasn't good enough for those who want MCAS El Toro converted into an international airport without a proper planning process.
In November 1994, Orange County voters approved Measure A by a narrow margin of 51% to 49%. This countywide ballot initiative mandated that MCAS El Toro be converted to an international airport, and transferred all planning authority from ETRPA to the Orange County Board of Supervisors. Even though Irvine, Lake Forest and other South County residents overwhelmingly rejected Measure A, with more than 70% of the vote, the votes in cities relatively unaffected by the airport accounted for a narrow countywide majority.
In January 1995, the Supervisors voted to withdraw from ETRPA. The Pentagon ignored appeals from Irvine and Lake Forest, and switched recognition to the Supervisors as the sole legitimate planning authority for the base. Measure S, a subsequent ballot initiative which would have overturned Measure A, failed in March 1996.
In August 1996, the Supervisors released a draft version of their Community Reuse Plan. It claimed to have analyzed five alternatives for MCAS El Toro:
Alternative A: This would develop "a major commercial airport which will accommodate substantial commercial passenger and cargo operations . . . By 2020, it is estimated that the airport could accommodate approximately 38.3 million annual passengers and 1.64 million annual tons of cargo."1 The proposed airport would be the fifth busiest commercial airport in the United States. At the same time, Alternative A would close John Wayne Airport to commercial aviation, leaving the new $400 million facility for use by general aviation only, such as corporate jets.
Alternative B: This would limit the aviation activities to around-the-clock cargo flights and general aviation. It also includes non-aviation and open space uses.2
Alternative C: This includes only non-aviation uses, focusing on visitor-oriented attractions, institutional uses, research and development, residential communities, and open space uses.3
Alternative D: This is described as the "No Project" Alternative. This alternative assumes that the Marine Corps will not leave MCAS El Toro in 1999, ignoring federal law mandating their departure.
Alternative E: This assumes that MCAS El Toro closes in 1999, but that the base will simply be abandoned. This is the real "No Project" Alternative.
The Plan recommends Alternative A. It includes little discussion of the other alternatives. Residents living near MCAS El Toro were given no say in identifying, formulating or debating the alternatives.
Accompanying the Plan's release was a draft version of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for Alternative A. The Draft EIR (known as "DEIR") is required by both the federal base closure law and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The DEIR is issued so that citizens may submit written responses. Any concerns raised must be addressed in writing by the planning agency.
At first, the County allowed only the very minimum amount of time required by law for the public to review the DEIR -- 45 days, from August 8 to September 23, 1996. The DEIR, including technical appendices, stands one-and-a-half feet tall. Imagine trying to digest all that information in just 45 days!
The documents were made available to the public at Orange County libraries, city planning offices and the County's Environmental Management Agency. A citizen wishing to acquire the documents would have to pay the County $356.00.
After much public outcry, the Supervisors agreed to extend the filing period another three weeks, to October 15, 1996.
They also scheduled a series of "public meetings" around the county. These events did not provide the public an opportunity for genuine participation; rather, citizens were allowed to view easels with diagrams and bullet charts supporting the Plan's conclusions. Accompanying each easel was a County representative who wore a name tag with only a first name, but no last name or indication of the individual's job title, employer, or qualifications.
Here's what happened at the September 11, 1996 Irvine public meeting, according to one news report:
Public comment wasn't taken at Wednesday night's workshop in Irvine and that upset a few of those who attended. Instead of a formal presentation on the matter and a question and answer period, stations were set up around the room with consultants to answer questions about the three alternatives, economic matters, noise, air quality and traffic.
The meeting was described by those polled as a sham, a joke, a crock, mumbo jumbo, dog and pony show, terrible, propaganda mill, and a facade. Other descriptions heard Wednesday night aren't printable.
A table was set up in the middle of the room for people who wanted to read the EIR documents. Behind a screen, visitors could sit down and watch a video presentation, which one woman dismissed as "propaganda."4
Why the rush?
According to a County "Fact Sheet," the Plan is required by law to be submitted to the Navy Department by December 15, 1996. The Navy will subsequently complete its environmental review process and will issue its decision regarding the base's ultimate disposition.
But consider this: under environmental law, any legal challenges filed against a DEIR must be based upon any written questions filed during the review period. Given the enormity of the DEIR and the short review period, these two factors combine to have the natural effect of limiting the public's ability to prepare an organized, authoritative and incisive response.
Project 99 members, undaunted by the limited review period, volunteered to dissect the DEIR. More than seventy South Orange County residents joined together to prepare the written response that accompanies this overview.
Their combined talents are impressive. They include planners, environmental experts, scientists, engineers, pilots, lawyers, teachers, and other citizens concerned about the future of their community.
This 141-page organized response poses 1,568 questions to the County about actual or potential flaws in the Plan and the DEIR.
The Legislature enacted the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in 1970, one year after Congress enacted its predecessor statute, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). CEQA was conceived primarily as a means to require public agency decisionmakers to document and consider the environmental implications of their actions.5
We believe that the County's DEIR is in violation of CEQA's most fundamental purpose. According to the landmark court ruling Sierra Club v. Gilroy City Council:
CEQA contains substantive provisions with which agencies must comply. The most important of these is the provision requiring public agencies to deny approval of a project with significant adverse effects when feasible alternatives or feasible mitigation measures can substantially lessen such effects.6
Let's emphasize this passage, for it is the crux of our argument that the DEIR is deeply flawed. Public agencies are required to deny approval of a project with significant adverse effects when feasible alternatives or feasible mitigation measures can substantially lessen such effects. This means that if we can demonstrate that Alternative A has significant adverse effects which can't be mitigated, the County is required to deny approval of the project and consider other alternatives. Their only other option is to adopt a "statement of overriding considerations," in which they explain why they're disregarding the evidence.
How is "significant" defined? The State of California Guide to CEQA cites 26 different environmental elements, any one of which triggers a "significant" effect.7 Allow us to enumerate what we feel are the "Top Ten" fundamental flaws in this DEIR, significant effects as defined by CEQA.
A project will normally have a significant effect on the environment if it will:
(1) Conflict with adopted environmental plans and goals of the community where it is located.
MCAS El Toro consists of 4,738 acres. Nearly 10% of that land, 420 acres, is within the incorporated boundary of the City of Irvine.
The City of Irvine's General Plan -- a state-mandated master plan for development -- was designed with a military base in mind at MCAS El Toro. The number of military flights out of the base are far fewer than the projected commercial and cargo flights. The types of aircraft arriving and departing from a commercial airport are very different from military planes -- a 747 doesn't have the same characteristics as a F-18. According to J. Roger Fleming of the Air Transport Association, "No valid assumptions can be made by comparing the military activity at El Toro with commercial Air Center operations at the same site."8
The DEIR fails to explain how the County Plan can be reconciled with the City of Irvine's General Plan.
(2) Increase substantially the ambient noise levels for adjoining areas.
The DEIR admits a substantial increase in noise, but only in an estimated 13 acres of planned residential land use to the northwest of the MCAS El Toro site.
The proposed mitigation measure? "The detailed selection of noise mitigation measures will be done as part of an Airport Master Plan environmental review process."
In other words, they'll study it later. How can some vague future study be guaranteed to mitigate the noise problems the airport will create? Even so, the DEIR admits that after mitigation the effect will still be "significant for aircraft noise, number and frequency of operations, nighttime operations and roadway noise."
Project 99 contends that even the assumptions made in analyzing takeoff patterns are flawed. The DEIR assumes that takeoffs will occur to the north or to the east. Yet commercial airline pilots say that such takeoffs would be dangerous. Here's what Captain Jon Russell of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) has to say:
. . . The uphill slope of these runways exceeds the federal standard of 1.5 percent as set forth in FAA standards. Prevailing winds are from the southwest, which will normally cause a tailwind takeoff for easterly departures that will restrict aircraft performance and severely limit the amount of cargo or passengers an airliner can carry.
Further, departures to the east will fly towards elevated terrain. Airlines and cargo operators would be penalized and forced to remove payload as a result. As pilots, we have to plan for the unexpected and in the event of an engine failure on take off, terrain clearance must be guaranteed. This not only is a safety issue, but also one of economics. Ideally, planes should depart downhill, into the wind and away from terrain . . . To ALPA's knowledge, no commercial aircraft or military jet transport has ever departed [to the east]. During Operation Desert Storm and Operation Desert Shield, in which many ALPA members participated, virtually all transports (military and civilian) departed to the south. Unfortunately, all alternatives for departures will be met with severe reservations because of noise or traffic conflicts . . .
Aircraft noise is a major concern for El Toro operations and residents worry about jet aircraft flying over their homes in spite of the fact that commercial jets are much quieter than military fighter aircraft. The concept of westbound departures must be considered because southbound departures will conflict with the arriving traffic landing to the north.9
So although the Plan says that takeoffs will occur to the north and the east, airline pilots believe that the only safe departures will be to the south and the west. Westerly departures will take these commercial aircraft directly over Irvine. The DEIR totally fails to study takeoffs to the south or west, and therefore offers no mitigation measures.
(3) Cause an increase in traffic which is substantial in relation to the existing traffic load and capacity of the street system.
The DEIR admits that Alternative A will trigger "operating deficiencies in the long term on several arterials and local roads." The proposed mitigation measure is "detailed traffic analyses to determine specific levels of capacity augmentation." The DEIR concludes that these analyses alone will render the project's effects "not significant."
Once again, they'll study it later. And who will pay for all the transportation infrastructure improvements required? The DEIR doesn't say.
(4) Create a potential public health hazard or involve the use, production, or disposal of materials which pose a hazard to people or animal or plant populations in the area affected.
In a May 15, 1996 letter, the Air Transport Association, which represents the major Air Carriers serving the Southern California area, expressed grave concerns about the safety of air traffic patterns due to conflicts between El Toro and the existing John Wayne Airport.
The flight track/operational scenario provided by the County is not supported by the FAA Air Traffic Control analysis. In addition to crosswind and payload limitation factors, we have significant concerns about operational conflicts with our present activities at John Wayne Airport. The airlines also have major reservations regarding integration of commercial aircraft operations from El Toro into the existing traffic flow in and around the Los Angeles Basin. Air traffic management and capacity in Southern California are serious, ongoing problems which are currently being analyzed by both the local air traffic personnel and the FAA Systems Command Center in Virginia. Any significant traffic numbers in and out of El Toro would obviously exacerbate this situation.10
The DEIR ignores this implicit threat of a mid-air collision. It states there are "no significant adverse impacts related to aviation safety," and therefore recommends no mitigation measures.
And let's not forget the Irvine Medical Center at Sand Canyon and Alton in Irvine. Takeoffs to the west could send aircraft directly over the hospital.
(5) Violate any ambient air quality standard, contribute substantially to an existing or projected air quality violation, or expose sensitive receptors to substantial pollutant concentrations.
Believe it or not, the DEIR claims that the airport will reduce air pollution! Here's what it says:
"On a regional basis, this alternative represents a gross reduction in emissions ... because it provides an alternative to other airports (LAX, San Diego, Ontario, etc.). Thus, regional vehicle miles traveled (VMT) are reduced."
What about the air quality for those people living and working around the airport? The DEIR skews the impact by using a "regional" analysis, thereby avoiding the need to mitigate the adverse effects to those nearby. The report claims that because people won't have to drive to LAX, it will reduce pollution. But the analysts who wrote the report have admitted that in communities near El Toro, pollution will increase significantly. How much? They don't say. What mitigation measures are offered? None.
(6) Substantially degrade water quality.
The DEIR admits that Alternative A could cause "potentially significant and adverse long term water quality impacts." But no mitigation measures are proposed other than "required monitoring."
(7) Substantially degrade or deplete groundwater resources.
The Plan identifies a number of storage tanks and groundwater contamination problems at MCAS El Toro. Rather than identifying a mitigation measure, the DEIR leaves the responsibility for mitigation in the hands of the Navy. According to an April 1995 report, only 63% of the base was considered "uncontaminated and suitable for transfer."11 The Plan notes that "contaminated soils must be remediated before ownership of the property is transferred by the [Department of Defense] .... Depending upon the availability of federal funding, remediation of these contaminated sites may affect the phasing of redevelopment."12
So, the DEIR leaves it up to the Navy to clean up groundwater contamination. It fails to offer any mitigation measure of its own.
(8) Induce substantial growth or concentration of population.
The Plan projects 30,300 total direct jobs at the base and 143,100 total on- and off-base jobs. It estimates that 38.3 million air passengers will pass through the facility in a year, with 447,000 annual aircraft operations. The resulting impact of this unprecedented growth on the environment would be enormous. Yet, the DEIR offers no mitigation measures.
(9) Encourage activities which result in the use of large amounts of fuel, water, or energy.
Operating a major international airport certainly encourages these sorts of activities. It involves massive increases in demand for water, gasoline, natural gas and electricity There's no mention in the DEIR of any mitigation measures.
(10) Convert prime agricultural land to non-agricultural use or impair the agricultural productivity of prime agricultural land.
The DEIR states that Alternative A will cause a "significant adverse impact related to the loss of agricultural soils." According to the Plan, the Navy currently leases out 1,040 acres on the base for agricultural uses. Of that amount, 726 acres have been classified as prime farmland and 92 acres have been classified as farmland of statewide importance by the United States Natural Resources Conservation Service.13 No mitigation is proposed, and the report admits that the impact will remain significant after the project's implementation.
Closure of John Wayne Airport
Promoters of El Toro International Airport have argued that regional air travel demand will continue to increase, and that an additional airport will be needed.
But what they don't tell you is that the existing John Wayne Airport is currently being used at less than 50% of physical capacity. The County and the City of Newport Beach negotiated an artificial cap on flights back in 1985, so the County could move ahead with airport expansion plans. That agreement expires in 2005. So why not take advantage of this available capacity which can meet regional demand beyond the year 2005?
Well, there's another secret they don't publicize. The Community Reuse Plan would result in the closure of John Wayne Airport for commercial passenger use.14 You read that right. The true agenda of El Toro's boosters is to transfer all commercial flights from John Wayne to El Toro. Commercial takeoffs over Newport Beach would end. Is it simply a coincidence that Measure A's top financial boosters live in Newport Beach?
So future demand was never the issue. Their actual intent is to simply move the airport noise problem from Newport Beach to Irvine, Lake Forest and other South County communities. Airport proponents intend to renege on Newport Beach's implied agreement to accept additional flights at John Wayne starting in 2005, by transferring all commercial flights from John Wayne to El Toro. That means that the massive, modern, multi-million dollar terminal completed at John Wayne Airport just a few years ago would be effectively abandoned, used only by those taking general aviation flights, such as corporate jets.
Financing of El Toro International Airport
The Plan claims that the air carriers would pay for the project through the assessment of an "airline cost per enplaned passenger," ranging from $8.00 to $13.00 per passenger. Airports are typically financed by the issuance of revenue bonds, which are repaid by the collection of these fees.
But the air carriers say that they're not interested in paying for El Toro. Here's what J. Roger Fleming of the Air Transport Association wrote:
The airlines serving the Orange County area have a significant investment in John Wayne Airport which presently serves virtually the same geographical area as the proposed airport at the El Toro site. The further fragmentation of airline activities and resources in the Los Angeles area that would occur if El Toro was developed as described in Reuse Alternative A (Commercial Passenger and Cargo Use) would pose serious challenges for the airlines in terms of operational control and economic viability.15
The County still owes about $250 million on John Wayne Airport. If the air carriers won't agree to finance El Toro, then who will pay for the project? In any case, the air carriers wouldn't be responsible for financing the massive transportation infrastructure improvements required for freeways, arterials and surface streets. That will have to come from the taxpayers.
Irvine is America's largest master-planned city. It serves as a template for urban planning not just elsewhere in Orange County, but also across the United States and around the world-- in 1990, Irvine received a United Nations award for environmental achievement.
Those of us who've put down roots here, Irvine's stakeholders, have worked long and hard to establish and maintain the highest standards of quality living. A master plan adopted more than two decades ago still serves as our fundamental blueprint for this community's future.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors' Community Reuse Plan ignores reality. It ignores the safety concerns of the Air Line Pilots Association. It ignores the economic concerns of the Air Transport Association. It ignores existing air traffic congestion in the Los Angeles Basin. It ignores compelling evidence that fundamental assumptions made about takeoff and landing patterns are flawed. And worst of all, it ignores the concerns of those who would suffer the most from an El Toro International Airport, the residents of Irvine, Lake Forest, Leisure World, Laguna Hills, Mission Viejo, and other South County communities.
Project 99 is comprised of hundreds of citizens who are volunteering their time and money to oppose this proposal, and urge conversion of MCAS El Toro to sensible and productive non-aviation uses. Although it may seem that the powerful forces behind El Toro International Airport cannot be stopped, we need only to remember what history has taught us.
In the months after the Declaration of Independence, George Washington's Continental Army suffered one embarrassing defeat after another. In those early days, Washington and his troops were on the run. It appeared that America's dream of independence would soon be lost, and the colonies would be shackled in eternal servitude to England.
Patriot Thomas Paine was moved to pick up his pen and write a pamphlet called The Crisis. Paine wrote word that today still ring true, inspiring new generations of Americans to stand up in defense of their values and their communities:
These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.
Thomas Paine was right. The conflict in which we're now embroiled will be hard indeed. But just as Paine noted in his day, the triumph will be glorious.
Larry Agran
Voluntary Chair Project 99
Stephen C. Smith
Deputy Director Project 99
1 MCAS El Toro Local Redevelopment Authority, MCAS El Toro Community Reuse Plan, August 1996 Draft, p. 29.
For more information contact:
Project 99, PMB # 147, 5319 University Drive, Irvine,
CA 92612-2935
Telephone: 714-554-5410
