Small Army Speaks to El Toro Closure Plan
Closing the El Toro Marine Air Station. What a great idea! This closure, when all the exaggerated fiscal impact claims are sorted out, will result in a relatively unnoticeable economic impact on Orange County. In fact, since all the Marines will merely be transferred to other duty stations with their families, only a relatively few civilian base employees will be impacted.
In turn, the county will acquire a fine public recreation area and several hundred houses that can be used for welfare/homeless housing, as well as an air field usable as an airline shipping hub or maintenance facility.
The biggest gains to Orange County residents will be the improved air quality, reduced noise, and safer living environment.
Since all military vehicles, cars, trucks and aircraft are completely exempt from both state and federal emission control programs, their exodus from Orange County will measurably improve our air quality and, of course, will also curtail their major contribution to the environmental noise problem.
Perhaps the improved safety of area residents will be the biggest gain, though. No longer will fledgling aviators from the training squadrons be practicing their “proficiency flying” by performing training flights over the surrounding communities.
Close El Toro in the year 2000? Why wait till then. Why not 1994?
JAMES C. DELANEY
Santa Ana
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