Further Growth of L.A. Airport Should Be Blocked, Russell Says

Continued expansion of Los Angeles International Airport should be blocked to avoid increasing smog, noise pollution and traffic congestion in the area, City Council President Pat Russell said Thursday.

Russell, who represents the area surrounding the airport, urged the council to take a more active role with other agencies in pushing for expansion of other area airports to lighten the load on the nation’s third-busiest airport.

Authorities believe that the airport will handle more than 40 million passengers this year, exceeding the advisory limit set by the council in 1974.

“Further increases in passengers will exacerbate noise pollution, air quality problems and traffic congestion in airport communities,” Russell said in a news conference at an intersection near the airport’s runways.

“Until these impacts can be substantially mitigated, the 40-million annual passenger limit must be honored.”

Russell called for the construction of a new airport in Palmdale to serve the growing San Fernando Valley, and continued expansion of the Ontario Airport, which is the only other commercial airport controlled by the city.

She also said she wants regional airport officials to bring quieter aircraft to all area airports and improve mass transit facilities.

Lee Nichols, spokesman for the city Department of Airports, said LAX handled 37.6 million passengers in 1985 and is expected to accommodate 10% more this year.

The city has no authority to enforce its advisory passenger limit and must rely on commercial aircraft carriers and the Federal Aviation Administration to agree to expand other airports, Nichols said.

The Los Angeles airport is the busiest of the five facilities in the area, carrying 75.9% of all air passengers served in the region in 1985.

Russell said she will introduce a proposal to the council today urging the city to reaffirm its policy to control the passenger load and to become more active in pushing other airports to expand.

The city should also take an active role in the planned 1987 report on the imbalance of air service in Southern California to be conducted by the Southern California Regional Airport Authority and the Southern California Assn. of Governments, she said.