O.C. Air Stations May Avoid Closure : Bases: Commission’s action may spare El Toro and Tustin, but panel adds Long Beach Naval Shipyard and Miramar Naval facility in San Diego to its list.

The El Toro and Tustin Marine Corps air stations, both targeted for closing by the Pentagon, could remain open as a result of action taken Friday by the military base closure commission.

During a daylong hearing on Capitol Hill, the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission voted to reconsider its 1991 decision to close the Tustin Marine Corps Air Station, and added the Long Beach Naval Shipyard and Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego County to the growing list of military installations that it may move to close this year.

Under a complex scenario devised by the commission’s staff, closing Miramar could spare El Toro, which is home to more than 120 F/A-18 fighter planes, a dozen KC-130 cargo aircraft and a like number of CH-46 helicopters.

Earlier this year, the Pentagon recommended that Congress close El Toro and transfer most of its aircraft to Miramar.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that the city of San Diego will put up an effort that has not been seen yet to protest the possibility of closing Miramar,” San Diego Mayor Susan Goulding said.

Added Deputy Mayor Tom Behr: “It seems to me that we may well be getting our clocks cleaned by Orange County and their stronger representation in Congress. It’s all a matter of advocacy in Washington, and Orange County seems to be way ahead of us.”

Because the 2-year-old decision to close Tustin had not yet been carried out, the Pentagon also proposed that most of Tustin’s helicopters be relocated to Miramar, while the Navy jets stationed there would move to the Lemoore naval base in Central California and another at Fallon, Nev.

Commission Chairman Jim Courter urged the panel to rethink the 1991 decision to close Tustin because Congress failed to pass legislation that would have allowed the Marine Corps to sell the base’s property to private interests and keep the proceeds.

Under the 1991 plan, the money from the base’s sale would have helped defray the $600-million cost of building new facilities for Tustin’s helicopters at the Marine base at Twentynine Palms. The plan to sell the base, however, was blocked by the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“The reason we’re entertaining this . . . is that the ’91 commission, when it voted to close Tustin, balked at the military construction expense of $600 million,” Courter said Friday. Despite its hesitation, the commission went ahead and recommended the closure, assuming that Congress would agree to selling the base and allowing the military to use the proceeds.

The commission’s latest actions--adding Miramar and putting Tustin back into the mix--by no means guarantee that Orange County will keep either, or both, of its air bases. But it dramatically improves the prospects that at least one of the installations will remain open.

Following the commission’s Friday decisions, those who have led the fight to keep El Toro open reacted with cautious optimism, and San Diego officials made no effort to mask their disappointment.

“If Miramar had not been added to the closure list, we would have failed in our efforts to keep El Toro from closing,” Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) said after the vote. “What this means is that our arguments on behalf of maintaining El Toro are being very seriously considered.”

Orange County Supervisor Thomas F. Riley added: “I would say that it’s not the time to stand up and cheer, but we can whisper.”

Although the closing of El Toro was considered a “done deal” when the Pentagon put it on its list of bases facing extinction in March, Riley said he felt sentiment started to turn “when we began to find that the (cost) figures that had been used to select El Toro were certainly nowhere near the truth.”

But Newport Beach Mayor Clarence J. Turner, whose city wants to turn El Toro into a commercial airport, predicted that the final closure list to be submitted to President Clinton by July 1 would include El Toro.

“I think that what will happen is that the delegation from San Diego is going to come unglued (because Miramar is on the list),” Turner said. “If it boils down to choosing between Miramar and El Toro, (the commission) would choose El Toro.”

Dave Nuffer, chairman of the Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce, said that “from an economic standpoint, closing Miramar would be a disaster for San Diego, and we can’t let it happen. President Clinton was just here promising to help San Diego. Now we’ll find out if he means it.”

San Diego Mayor Goulding said that until now, her city has focused on trying to save the Naval Training Center, which is already listed for closure. If both that and Miramar were to shut down, she said, it would land a devastating blow to the San Diego economy, which has already lost 50,000 jobs in the last three years.

“I just don’t even want to think about it,” she said. “I am not against closing bases we don’t need, but it’s a question of how quickly and how great the impact will be.”

Still, Deputy Mayor Behr said there was time for San Diego to rescue Miramar. He noted that the commission made its decision without the benefit of a thorough cost-benefit analysis that was still being run through the Pentagon’s computers.

Rep. Randy Cunningham (R-San Diego) said a “strong case” can be made for keeping Miramar open. “The bottom line is that its supersonic fighter training and high-tech simulator training cannot be done anywhere else,” he said.

“Everyone knows that this is going to require additional study,” Courter told his fellow commissioners. “I don’t know where I’m going to land (on the Tustin and El Toro questions), but in order to preserve all these options, we must entertain and pass (these) motions.”

The commission voted 5 to 1 to reconsider the Tustin closing, and 6 to 0 to put Miramar on the list of bases that could be closed. Commissioner Beverly B. Byron, a former Maryland congresswoman, opposed the Tustin action. Commissioner Rebecca G. Cox did not vote because both bases are in the congressional district represented by her congressman husband, Christopher Cox.

Although the commission is now reconsidering its decision to close Tustin, Rep. Cox said it is unlikely the base will remain open. The challenge now, he added, is to find a new base for the Tustin Marines--preferably March Air Force Base--while trying to keep El Toro open.

Tustin Councilwoman Leslie Anne Pontious said her city officially is opposed to keeping the Tustin station open.

“Our reading of what is going on in Washington is that while that scenario (to leave Tustin open) is being considered, it’s not high on the list, and therefore, highly unlikely that that is the action that would be taken,” Pontious said.

Meanwhile at the Miramar base, officials had little comment on the commission’s action.

“The commission members have the ability to add whomever they wish,” base spokesman Doug Sayers said. “The Navy has not changed its position on the bases it submitted (for closure). We are going to let the process follow its course.”

The decision to add Miramar to the closure list was prompted in part by uncertainty over the cost of closing El Toro.

The Pentagon has officially estimated that the Navy, which has jurisdiction over the Marine Corps, would spend $898.5 million to realign the West Coast Marine operations, including El Toro. That figure includes an estimated $340 million for construCTiOn of neW avIatIon facilities at Miramar, which is about 80 miles south of the Orange County base.

But that $340 million in new construction costs did not include money to build new housing, according to Rick Richardella, a commission analyst who testified before the panel on Friday. Richardella noted that Orange County groups opposed to closing El Toro have estimated that the real cost of building new facilities, including new housing, at Miramar would reach $1.268 billion.

By putting Miramar on the list, Courter said the commission would ensure that those costs are thoroughly analyzed.

Concerns raised by commission officials during the hearing Friday also reflected some of the issues raised by Orange County officials and citizens, such as whether jets and helicopters can mix in the San Diego air space, and whether Miramar’s environmentally sensitive land has room for base expansion.

The El Toro base sits on 4,738 acres, compared to 23,420 at Miramar. But despite the size of the Miramar base, commission analysts said the prospects for expanding Miramar are dim because of federal environmental concerns about an adjacent wildlife habitat.

Courter also expressed concern about mixing fixedwing aircraft with helicopters at the Miramar base, which is called for under the Pentagon’s plan to move the Tustin and El Toro Marines to San Diego. He noted that many military authorities believe that the practice significantly increases the likelihood of catastrophic midair collisions.

Under the Pentagon’s original plan, 121 F/A-18 fighters and 12 KC-130 cargo transports would be transferred from El Toro to Miramar. The 120 F-14 fighters and 24 E-2 planes stationed at Miramar would move to the Lemoore station about 280 miles to the north.

Helicopters now based at Tustin would move to Miramar and the smaller Marine Corps air station at nearby Camp Pendleton.

The Pentagon lists El Toro’s military population at 6,447 and civilian employment at 1,067, while Miramar is home to 11,908 military personnel and 1,371 civilian workers.

Even before Miramar and the Long Beach Shipyard were added to the base-closing list on Friday, 10 other major California installations were already facing possible extinction.

Long Beach was added to provide commissioners with an alternative to closing Mare Island shipyard in the Bay Area, which was on the Defense Department’s initial closure list.

While the additions may be alarming to communities where those bases are located, the changes don’t necessarily mean those bases will close. Two years ago, the commission added 35 bases to its review list, but none of them were closed.

The news about Long Beach provoked immediate--and varied--reaction from Southern California Congress members. Rep. Steve Horn (R-Long Beach) was “extremely saddened” by the action, and Rep. Jane Harman (D-Marina del Rey) was “very disappointed.”

Yet Rep. Cunningham, who wants more ship repair work for private shipyards in his San Diego district, said the Long Beach decision “makes sense.”

Between now and mid-June, members of the Defense Base Closing and Realignment Commission will visit military installations added to the review list on Friday. Regional hearings will be scheduled in early June to give local communities a chance to testify on their behalf.

The commission will begin its last round of public deliberations in mid-June and vote on which bases to close on June 25 or 26.

By law the recommendations must go to President Clinton by July 1. He can approve the recommendations and forward them to Congress or return them to the commission with his reasons for disapproval. Congress cannot alter this list.

Congress has 45 legislative days to pass a motion of disapproval in both houses, or the commission’s report becomes law.

Stewart reported from Washington and Martinez reported from Orange County. Times staff writer James Bornemeier also contributed to this report.

Saving El Toro

The Pentagon wants to close El Toro Marine Corps Air Station and move jets from there to Miramar Naval Air Station. But the base closure commission is considering:

* Option 1: Close El Toro and keep Miramar open as it is. Move jets from El Toro and Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii to Lemoore Naval Air Station. El Toro’s helicopter move to Camp Pendleton.

* Option 2: Similar to Option 1, except that El Toro and Kaneohe Bay fighters move to Miramar instead of Lemoore.

* Option 3: Keep El Toro and Tustin open; close Miramar. Helicopters from Kaneohe Bay move to Tustin. Jets at Kaneohe Bay move to El Toro. Jets at Miramar move to Lemoore and Fallon, Nev.

* Option 4: Keep El Toro open, close Tustin and Miramar. Kaneohe Bay jets move to El Toro. El Toro’s cargo planes move to the Marine station in Yuma, Ariz. Tustin helicopter move to El Toro, Camp Pendleton, North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego or New River Marine Corps Air Station in North Carolina. Miramar units would move to Lemoore and Fallon.

NEXT STEP

Between now and mid-June, members of the Defense Base Closing and Realignment Commission will visit military installations added to the review list Friday. Regional hearings will be scheduled in early June to give local community members a chance to testify. The commission will begin its last round of public deliberations in mid-June and vote June 25 or 26 on which bases to close. By law the recommendations must go to President Clinton by July 1. He can approve the recommendations and forward them to Congress or return them to the commission with his reasons for disapproval. Congress, which cannot alter the list, has 45 legislative days to pass a motion of disapproval in both houses or the commission’s report becomes law.