Another Delay for El Toro Airport Study

The county’s long-delayed draft environmental impact report on the proposed commercial airport at El Toro has been delayed yet again and will not be ready for release Friday, as previously expected, according to a county official.

Instead, the document will be issued next month.

Michael L. Lapin, who took over management of the county’s El Toro program office in July, said that consultants and staff need more time to complete the report.

“To ensure that the document is complete and accurate and meets the high standards that the board [of supervisors] and public expect, we have decided to issue the document in December,” Lapin said in a prepared statement.

Reaction was swift from the two supervisors representing predominantly anti-airport south Orange County.

“The EIR has been done for weeks,” Supervisor Todd Spitzer said. “They now know that their final analysis is fatally flawed. They’re buying time for the high-priced spin doctors to sell this defective plan to the public. We’re smarter than that.”

Supervisor Tom Wilson added: “I’m disappointed. I thought this time at least they would be on schedule.”

Supervisors who make up the pro-airport majority of the board could not be reached after hours for comment.

A commercial airport at the retired El Toro Marine Corps Air Station would be among the largest public works projects in county history, Lapin said. Delaying until December will permit a comprehensive environmental report, he said.