Countywide : Industrial League Backs Base as Airport

The Industrial League of Orange County on Thursday endorsed Measure A, the county initiative on the November ballot that calls for the conversion of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station into a commercial airport.

“An expanded airport is essential to the county’s economic health, and there are no other viable sites,” league officials said in a statement released Wednesday. “A commercial airport at El Toro . . . could stimulate an economic boom in Orange County.”

The league is made up of leaders from 850 manufacturing, high-tech, aerospace and financial firms.

The ballot measure is opposed by many residents from South County cities who fear turning El Toro in a commercial airport after the military pulls out at the end of the decade will increase noise, traffic and pollution.

The county has formed a joint powers authority along with several cities to create a reuse plan for the base.