Judge Rejects Suit to Remove Jet Fuel Tanks

A Superior Court judge on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit filed by business owners near John Wayne Airport who want three above-ground fuel tanks removed, saying they had not shown that the tanks are a nuisance.

Members of the Koll-Irvine Center Business Park contend in their amended lawsuit that the three tanks, which can hold a combined 900,000 gallons of jet fuel, pose a threat because they sit next to the business park.

Their attorneys have argued that a major accident, such as an airplane crashing into the tanks, could create a fireball that could consume the businesses and cause damage along the nearby San Diego Freeway.

But Superior Court Judge Ronald L. Bauer, who dismissed an earlier lawsuit to remove the tanks, said that the amended suit still failed to convince him, Judith Jelinek, a member of the association, said in court Tuesday.

Bauer refused to hear any more lawsuits from the association on the issue, said representatives of Koll-Irvine and the airline consortium that operates the fuel tanks.

“The mere threat that the tanks may blow up is mere speculation. . . . The airport needs fuel to run airplanes,” said Don Morrow, an attorney for the consortium. “We think the tanks are state of the art.”

The business association members have the option of taking their case to the 4th District Court of Appeal, Jelinek said.

Attorneys for Koll-Irvine argued that fear of a catastrophe is enough to make the tanks a private nuisance, and that the tanks’ presence has hurt the business owners because they have stopped using some offices nearest the tanks.