CBS Joins Opposition to Expansion of Burbank Airport : Environment: The city of Los Angeles also files a lawsuit. The challenges to the report that claims the project will not increase noise pollution catch spokesman Victor Gill off guard.

CBS Inc. has joined a chorus of public opposition to the Burbank Airport’s plans for building a larger terminal, claiming its popular production facility in Studio City loses thousands of dollars annually due to disruptive aircraft noise.

The network’s announcement Friday came as the latest surprise this week for airport officials, who also learned they are being sued by the city of Los Angeles for the fourth time since 1977.

Both CBS and the Los Angeles are trying to stop construction of the new terminal, claiming airport officials failed to produce an adequate environmental study on the project that is required under state law.

The airport’s operating board--made up of commissioners from Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena--plans to quadruple the size of the terminal, and nearly double the number of aircraft gates, in order to accommodate a growing number of travelers by the year 2010.

But the board’s lengthy environmental impact report has produced a swirl of controversy, largely because it concludes the project will not significantly increase noise pollution for residents nearby.

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This week’s challenges to the report caught airport spokesman Victor Gill off guard.

“My suspicion--and I have nothing to back this up--is there is a cross-fertilization between CBS’ involvement and the homeowners’ groups,” he said. “CBS Inc. has never shown its face in connection with the airport in the 10 years I’ve been here.”

The CBS Studio Center in Studio City--where shows like “Roseanne,” “Seinfeld” and “Grace Under Fire” are produced--is located under the airport’s flight path.

But it is far from the imaginary boundary around the airport, known as the 65 CNEL contour, in which airport officials are required under state law to reduce the number of homes, schools and hospitals affected by aircraft noise.

The studio’s president, Mike Klausman, acknowledged that airport officials are not obligated to do anything for residents or businesses located outside the contour.

But, he said, production at the 40-acre facility with 16 sound stages and at least 2,500 employees is disrupted for three to four minutes every time an airplane flies overhead.

He declined to name which shows were affected and said he did not know exactly how much money the studio has lost over the years.

“We’re not opposed to the Burbank Airport expansion,” Klausman said. “We’re opposed to all the flights this way. We’d like a better allocation of the flight pattern.

“To increase it would affect me even more. The question is, why can’t they (airport officials) divide it up in a more equitable manner.”

Presently, about 90% of airplanes departing Burbank Airport take off to the south and circle east over neighborhoods such as North Hollywood, Valley Village, Studio City and Sherman Oaks. The Air Line Pilots Assn. supports that pattern, citing a number of safety reasons.

Though workers at the CBS Studio Center have suffered from aircraft noise for years, Klausman said he never complained to airport officials because he did not know enough about the matter until meeting recently with homeowners’ groups.

CBS’ announcement was made during a brief hearing Friday before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert H. O’Brien, who had ordered airport officials to redo the environmental impact report.

The order was prompted by a lawsuit filed by attorneys for the city of Los Angeles and four homeowners’ groups over the adequacy of the report’s findings.

Airport officials updated the report this year, but reached the same conclusion as before: The new terminal will not lead to a significant increase in aircraft noise.

Friday, O’Brien said he would begin deliberations in the case to determine whether the airport’s updated report is sufficient.

CBS’ attorney, Beth Finley, acknowledging it was too late to join Los Angeles’ suit, asked the judge to consider the studio’s comments about aircraft noise.

O’Brien declined, saying, “This case has been going on forever. . . . It’s just too late.”

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Within hours of the hearing, Los Angeles filed yet another lawsuit against airport officials, claiming the updated environmental impact report is also inadequate and contains new information that does not properly analyze increased automobile traffic resulting from a larger terminal.

“It’s not the purpose of the suit to delay or to stop the expansion even,” said Keith Pritsker, deputy city attorney for Los Angeles. “The city’s position is if they’re going to expand, they should fully analyze the impact of the expansion and, where appropriate, mitigate these impacts.”

The airport’s lawyer, Richard Simon, said he had not yet seen the suit.