Hayden, Activists Vow to Fight LAX Expansion

Calling development plans preposterous, state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) and local environmentalists vowed Monday to fight a proposed expansion of Los Angeles International Airport.

Airport officials are considering the construction of two runways on landfill to be dumped into Santa Monica Bay as part of the airport’s master plan to nearly triple air cargo capacity and double passenger service by 2015.

Any expansion would pollute the bay, harm the habitat of the endangered El Segundo blue butterfly and add congestion to the streets around the airport, Hayden said at a news conference held Monday next to the dunes at the end of existing runways.

“As chairman of the Senate Natural Resources Committee, I will do everything in my power to stop this plan!” Hayden shouted over the ear-splitting roar of jet engines overhead.

Hayden’s district doesn’t cover the airport, but he heads a committee that oversees Santa Monica Bay. He is considered a potential Los Angeles mayoral candidate.

Putting two runways into the bay is just one of five proposals for expanding the air facility, said Susan Gilmore, a spokeswoman for the airport master plan. The proposals will be presented to the public in October, and one of the five plans could be selected by the end of the year.

Once that is done, an environmental impact report will be made. Airport officials hope it will be approved by the Los Angeles City Council in early 1998.

“Expanding LAX represents our best opportunity to secure the future of Los Angeles as a world-class city,” John Driscoll, executive director of the Los Angeles Department of Airports, said in a news release issued Monday.

By 2015, 98 million passengers are expected to use the airport annually, compared with 54 million in 1995. Instead of handling 1.7 million tons of air cargo every year, the facility could be processing as much as 4.2 million tons.

Environmentalists believe that one of the worst proposals for expansion is to build runways in the bay.

“When is enough, enough?” asked Terry Tamminen, executive director of Santa Monica Baykeeper, an environmental group. “This bay has made all the sacrifices it should.”

Tamminen, wearing a black armband, said 800 million gallons of treated sewage are dumped into the bay every day, along with 8 million gallons of treated refinery waste from the Chevron petroleum refinery in El Segundo.

“The LAX master plan is the LAX monster plan,” said Joan Hartmann of the American Oceans Campaign, a foundation started by actor Ted Danson. “Money should not be spent on something as preposterous as this.”

Mayor Richard Riordan has said the airport’s expansion is vital to the region’s economy. But critics of the expansion, such as Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, have suggested that it would be better to enlarge Palmdale Airport in the Antelope Valley to handle more cargo and passenger planes. Antonovich represents the Palmdale area.