El Toro : Air Quality Agency Sues Marines Over Pollution

Two large U.S. Marine Corps facilities have violated federal clean air standards, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Superior Court by the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

The agency, which monitors air pollution in the Los Angeles basin, claimed a facility used for testing jet engines at the Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro has been guilty of continuing violations of clean air standards since January.

The Marines should be fined $1,000 per day for each violation, according to the lawsuit.

A facility at Camp Cristianitos, the northernmost end of the Marine base at Camp Pendleton, also violated clean air standards last year, according to the suit.

Marine spokesmen at both facilities declined to comment, saying they had not had a chance to study the lawsuit.

Jim Birakos, deputy executive director of the Air Quality Management District, said that in recent years, it has been unusual for his agency to target military bases for pollution violations.

The lawsuit alleges that the district rejected Marine applications for permits to operate nine boilers at Camp Pendleton last year, but that the corps used the boilers without permission between July and September.

Birakos said the Marines burned coal in the boilers which contained too much sulfur, causing the pollution violations.

The lawsuit did not specify damages for the alleged violations at Camp Pendleton.