Airport Foes Believe They Made Points

Perhaps it was the electric saw. But underdog South County residents fighting a proposed commercial airport at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station said Thursday they feel like they finally got the attention of the Orange County Board of Supervisors.

“I imagined they learned something,” said airport opponent Ann Levesque of Irvine, one of more than 600 residents--including one brandishing a working circular saw to demonstrate airplane noise--who jammed Irvine City Hall on Wednesday night in protest. “We’re not just spinning our wheels. This fight isn’t over.”

By all accounts, it was one of the most remarkable shows of force by South County residents in recent memory. Emboldened by the turnout, many said Thursday they must keep up the momentum over the next several months if they hope to sideswipe plans to build one of the nation’s largest international airports at El Toro.

“Many times, folks wait until the 11th hour to do something,” Laguna Niguel Councilman Thomas W. Wilson said. “Well, it’s happened, the realization that this was coming to a head.”

Even the supervisors were impressed by outpouring of residents.

“They had a lot of emotion, they have a big stake in this, and they took the opportunity to speak out,” board Chairman Roger R. Stanton said.

Added Supervisor William G. Steiner: “There was a lot of credibility to what they had to say.”

One after another, residents lined up Wednesday night to state their case against an airport and voice fears that noise, traffic and pollution would destroy their quality of lives and devalue their homes. Others worried about accidents.

Pilot Todd Thornton of Laguna Beach questioned basics such as runway safety and whether the county was overly optimistic when it suggested an El Toro airport could serve 38.3 million passengers a year.

The report fails to consider how noise and pollution would affect people’s health, said a Lake Forest resident. Phil Johnson of Mission Viejo told the supervisors he had little faith they could get an airport right, considering the county’s plunge into bankruptcy.

“Quite honestly, your record is not stellar, in my opinion,” Johnson said.

Supervisor Don Saltarelli, whose district includes many South County residents living near the base or under proposed flight paths, said Thursday the meeting raised critical questions about the validity of the county’s massive environmental impact report and its projections for passenger demand, and posed crucial safety concerns.

He noted that an El Toro crash history contained in the report failed to include what was at the time one the worst air disasters in state history, the death of 84 servicemen and crew bound for Vietnam who slammed into a mountain shortly after takeoff.

“I saw the bodies in the hangar,” said Saltarelli, a former Marine stationed at the base at the time of the crash. “Every time you see a mistake of that magnitude it calls into question whether or not we have a good study and it does make the people more suspicious as to whether we have a balanced study.”

Some supervisors who have rarely been exposed to such anti-airport fury because their districts support an El Toro airport said the meeting was an eye-opener.

“On a personal level, I can say I have some concerns about what I heard last night, and new perspectives about some of the very significant impacts on the community,” said Supervisor Steiner, whose district includes many of the tourist attractions that would welcome a new airport.

Stanton acknowledged the depth of knowledge possessed by many of the more than 60 public speakers. Instead of relying on emotion, most came armed with the facts, he said.

“They really tried to be convincing, and I really appreciate an argument based on the facts,” Stanton said.

Despite the large turnout, some wondered what effect it really had. Most immediately, airport foes want supervisors to postpone the scheduled December vote on whether to pursue airport plans, but supervisors said a delay is unlikely.

Laguna Niguel Councilman Mark Goodman said he believes the meeting was little more than an empty gesture to appease local residents.

“This had no impact on the board,” Goodman said. “You know the routine, ‘thanks for coming, we want to hear what you have to say,’ but their minds are already made up.”

Stanton and Steiner bristled at that suggestion.

“If I had already made up my mind, I would not have come to Irvine,” Steiner said.

Invigorated South County residents concede the burden is now on them to move forward. And they insist they will.

“We’re not going to go away,” airport opponent Levesque said.