Inserted in Congressional Bill : New Study of Civilian Jets at El Toro Is Quietly OKd

Amid renewed debate over the need for a second regional airport in Orange County, Congress has quietly ordered a fresh study assessing the feasibility of opening El Toro Marine Corps Air Station to commercial jet service.

Authorization of the study was included in a catch-all transportation-spending bill that was passed by the House-Senate budget conference committee on Dec. 21. Orange County-based politicians and military officials did not learn of the measure until last week.

The study, to be undertaken by the Federal Aviation Administration and completed by March 31, comes at a time when the City of Newport Beach has stepped up efforts to force the issue of opening the air station to commercial flights. Such a proposal is vehemently opposed by officials of Irvine, the city that borders the air station on three sides, and the Marines, who flatly say such a change will not occur.

Local proponents of the idea say the El Toro option would be a relatively simple way to ease pressure on John Wayne Airport and satisfy the county’s growing air-travel demands.

But the Marines have long opposed any civilian use of their 6,200-acre El Toro airfield, a tactical base with a strategic location near the ocean, desert bombing ranges and Camp Pendleton, which is one of the biggest Marine bases in the country. El Toro also is home to some of the most sophisticated fighter jets and bombers in America’s defense arsenal.

And Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach), a staunch supporter of the military who has steadfastly rejected any move toward commercial use of El Toro, said he “hit the roof” when he learned last Wednesday about the study.

Michigan Rep. Robert Carr, a Democrat who represents a suburban Detroit district, won authorization for the studies of three military bases as the conference committee acted on the budget appropriation bill. In addition to El Toro, the FAA will study joint use of Selfridge Air National Guard Base near Detroit and Scott Air Force Base in southwestern Illinois, about 20 miles from St. Louis.

As a member of the House Appropriation subcommittee on transportation and related agencies, Carr was able to add the joint-use studies to the year-end spending bill when none of the other committee members objected.

Badham, whose district includes El Toro, was furious that he hadn’t been consulted.

“It was one of the most outrageous acts by a colleague in all my years in Washington,” Badham said in a telephone interview Monday. He described Carr as “a raging liberal who wants to punish the military.”

Carr was on vacation and unavailable for comment.

The precise reason that Carr included El Toro in the study authorization remained a mystery Monday, although an aide to Carr noted that, like the Selfridge base, El Toro is located near a busy commercial airport. Selfridge is near Detroit Metropolitan Airport, and Carr and other Michigan officials are looking at ways to relieve overcrowding at that facility.

Referring to El Toro, Carr spokesman Jeff Eller said: “‘We want to look at it to see if it is feasible. It is only a formality; (commercial use) is not inevitable. There is no prejudgment.”

The study of joint use between the military and commercial aviation at El Toro is not the first one conducted by the government. The FAA did a similar review in 1983 and determined that it was “technically infeasible” for commercial airliners and Marine fighter jets and bombers to share the air station. That study took more than a year to complete.

But pressure to find an alternate airfield to John Wayne has increased in recent years. Studies have indicated that up to 20 million travelers a year will require air service in Orange County by the turn of the century. And even after a $340-million expansion of John Wayne Airport, the facility, the only county airport handling commercial air traffic, will be able to handle only 8 million passengers annually.

Many Newport Beach residents live under the flight path of jetliners departing from John Wayne, and officials of that city are among the most vocal of those who are pushing for a second major airport.

“This city has done more than its share” regarding an expanded regional airport, Newport Beach Mayor John Cox said.

“Irvine is doing more for the growth of this county than any other city, and yet they want no part of the airport solution,” Cox added. “They want the convenience of an airport nearby, but they don’t want it in their yard. They are sticking their heads in the sand and looking the other way on this one.”

To Cox and others, the Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro is a natural location for a second airport. Ken Delino, Newport Beach assistant city manager, says El Toro “is the only real alternative in this county.”

But Irvine City Councilman Ray Catalano responded:

“We have got to do everything we can to resist the pressures to open up El Toro. We got to dig in and do battle.”

Annexing the Marine base is a key objective for Irvine. The base is situated in unincorporated county territory but is recognized as falling within Irvine’s sphere of influence, one requirement for annexation.

In December, the Irvine Planning Commission recommended that the base and surrounding acreage be designated “military” for planning purposes in the city’s general plan. The area now has an “airport” designation, which city officials believe could work against them if the issue of commercialization of El Toro winds up in court. The city is expected to approve the change to “military” next month..

“We want to fully cooperate with the study because we believe if all the facts are brought out, the conclusion not to jointly use the air station will be the same as the study done in 1983,” said Col. Jack Wagner, officer in charge of planning for the base.

“Fighter bombers and businessmen specials would not mix,” said Wagner, one of the most visible Marines at council meetings in cities surrounding the base. “Our mission is ‘bombs on target on time.’ I wouldn’t be bothered being five minutes late taking off on my commercial flight to Chicago, but if we were 5 minutes late arriving on a bombing target, some Marines could get killed.”

“We are adamantly opposed to joint use,” he said. “It would impact our ability to train.”

A decision on joint use of the base would not be made locally or even regionally, but in Washington. The Department of Defense has a “position paper” characterizing joint use as “technically infeasible” and is opposed to it, Wagner reminded.

“I think joint use of El Toro is a dream in the eyes of some,” Wagner said, adding that the issue comes, goes away for a while, and then comes back again and again.”

Jim McConnell, Orange County’s lobbist in Washington, questioned what impact the new FAA study would have even if joint use of El Toro was recommended.

“Given the opposition of the county’s congressional delegation, the Board of Supervisors and the Marines, it is unlikely the study would do anything to change the issue at all,” he concluded.

Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, whose district includes the base, agreed, saying nothing has changed and nothing will change.

Clifton A. Moore, executive director of the Department of Airports for Los Angeles, said that his city “has been concerned for years about the large influx of Orange County travelers using LAX.” He estimated that nearly 9 million persons used Los Angeles International Airport last year.

“Nobody wants an airport in their backyard. But why should the people in this city (Los Angeles) bear the burden for air travel in this region. Let’s spread it around,” Moore suggested, adding:

“We have always felt that Orange County should do more to handle its load.”