County Proposes Added Mitigation for El Toro

Orange County, in a report filed Wednesday with a San Diego judge, proposed additional ways to lessen the negative impacts of converting the Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro into an international airport.

The county said in a supplemental environmental impact report that it plans, among other things, to ease traffic on the Santa Ana Freeway and beef up conservation efforts to make up for the loss of habitat for peregrine falcons and Swainson’s hawks.

Other mitigation proposals focus on improving flood-control channels, replacing lost agricultural land and reducing noise. County planners concluded that increased traffic and local air pollution from aircraft were significant but “unavoidable.”

The extra work was ordered last year by a San Diego County Superior Court judge who found that certain aspects of the county’s environment impact report were inadequate.

The new analysis focuses on two issues: the impact of losing some of the county’s last prime agricultural land and the kinds of public works projects that will be in place in 2020 when the new airport is expected to reach its capacity.

The county and South County airport foes have separate appeals pending on last year’s ruling by Judge Judith McConnell, who allowed planning for an El Toro airport to continue while requiring the additional environmental work.

“Just on a quick run-through, I don’t think it complies with [the] judge’s order,” said Richard Jacobs, attorney for the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority, a seven-city anti-airport coalition.

He said McConnell ordered revisions throughout the original document instead of a supplemental analysis.

The legal wrangling stems from a lawsuit that ETRPA and a citizens’ group filed against the county. The suit alleges that planners erred when they studied the environmental effects of an airport at El Toro against military jet operations. Airport foes said the commercial airport proposal should be evaluated against no flights at the base, which will close in July.

The environmental report reviewed by the judge is based on a preliminary airport proposal and is separate from an ongoing environmental analysis on the county’s preferred plan: an airport that would serve 24 million passengers a year.

However, the original environmental report is still part of the overall planning process, and rejection of it would set back the county’s plans.

ETRPA invited residents to comment on the new documents at a public meeting it will sponsor March 20. A time and a location have yet to be determined.

Written public comment on the documents is being accepted through April 9, county El Toro spokeswoman Ellen Call said. Copies are available through the El Toro Master Development Program at the Hall of Administration in Santa Ana. Copies also can be reviewed at public libraries around the county.

Personal copies can be purchased for $15.89 through CR Reprographics at (714) 751-2680. An appendix to the report costs an additional $36.65.