El Toro Airport Cost Pegged at $2.5 Billion

Tackling the “myth” that El Toro Marine Corps Air Station could be converted easily to a civilian airport, a report released Thursday by cities opposed to the project suggests it could cost $2.5 billion before the first commercial jet touched down.

The consultants who are finalizing the report also told a crowd at Irvine City Hall on Thursday that a successful airport at El Toro would require closing John Wayne Airport or taking such other drastic measures as carving into a nearby mountain to accommodate commercial flight paths.

An El Toro airport would become a commuter nightmare, have a devastating impact on air quality and require a costly cleanup that could span more than a decade, according to the report commissioned by the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority for $250,000.

But an Orange County official questioned the report’s validity--and its objectivity.

“We find it rather curious that the report is entitled ‘Opportunities for Commercial Aviation’ and yet the bulk of the consultants’ presentation concentrated on ‘constraints,’ ‘myths,’ and ‘problems,’ ” said Courtney Wiercioch, an executive at John Wayne Airport who is helping the county craft its own base reuse plan.

In other findings, the report:

* Contends that an El Toro airport would increase vehicle traffic by as much as 300% in an area notorious for congestion.

* Refutes a study commissioned by Orange County that projects aviation demand is rising enough to support two airports.

* Projects that the configuration of runways currently serving military plans could not efficiently accommodate larger commercial aircraft. The situation could lead to the sharing of airspace with John Wayne Airport--and potentially dangerous conflicts. A costly option would be reconfiguring the runways, short of carving out a mountain.

* Claims that transforming the aged military base to a modern airport would cost as much as $2.5 billion.

* Warns of costly environmental hazards at the base, including hundreds of underground storage tanks and ground-water contamination.

The El Toro Reuse Planning Authority was told that an airport at El Toro wasn’t needed if aircraft restrictions at John Wayne Airport were lifted in the future, a prospect likely to infuriate Newport Beach residents who sought those restrictions to limit the impact on their community.

“John Wayne Airport could ultimately serve all of this demand,” aviation consultant Lawrence E. Levinson said.

Despite these conclusions, authority chairman and Irvine Mayor Mike Ward said the report does not preclude an airport at El Toro.

“I don’t think this says ‘no’ to an airport; this says there are a lot of problems to an airport that we would have to deal with,” he said.

The report immediately was denounced by airport backers as an attempt to frighten residents and sway public opinion before Orange County voters go to the polls March 26 to decide Measure S, which aims to blocks the airport project.

At one point during the hearing, Ward jokingly told a traffic consultant: “Thank you very much, I think you scared a lot of people.”

But Ward and others say the report is not a scare tactic, but the first document to realistically address the obstacles facing a base conversion.

The El Toro Reuse Planning Authority has no jurisdiction over the base but is determined to make itself a player to protect the interests of South County residents who live near the base.