Orange County Cities Put LAWA on Notice: An El Toro Airport is Dead -- Deal With It.

News Editors/City Desks

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 6, 2003

Ten Orange County Cites represented by the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority (ETRPA) today expressed outrage at the revelation that Los Angeles World Airports and the City of Los Angeles would attempt to interfere in Orange County's land use decisions regarding the disposition of the former MCAS/El Toro.

In referring to the disclosure today that Los Angeles and LAWA have asked the Department of Transportation to take over El Toro and allow LAWA to operate an airport there, ETRPA Chair Mimi Walters said: "The City of Los Angeles has no right to interfere in Orange County's land use decisions. We are outraged that Los Angeles leaders have the effrontery to try to usurp the will of the voters and the elected officials of neighboring jurisdictions. The issue of El Toro is not Los Angeles' decision to make. There are six counties in Southern California -- Los Angeles is not the godfather to us all."

El Toro is not an appropriate place for an airport for three very important reasons:

-- 1. El Toro is Unsafe: Mountains on three sides of the base and

prevailing tale winds make operation of commercial aircraft

extremely unsafe. El Toro was a base for high performance

jets, not heavy commercial aircraft. The flight paths from El

Toro conflict with the flight paths to all other Southern

California airports, creating a serious safety and delay

issues for the region.

-- 2. El Toro is not needed. Orange County is nearly built out

and will contribute very little to the future population

growth that airport planners rely on to support their claim

that more aviation capacity is needed. The growth will occur

largely in the Inland Empire, which has three new airports on

line that are largely supported by their local jurisdictions.

-- 3. El Toro is unwanted. The people of Orange County have

spoken on this issue and have rejected the airport plan. The

issue is over.

Since the final vote on El Toro in March of 2002, the City of Irvine has assumed planning of the base under the guidelines established by Measure W. The base is slated for sale at auction this summer. According to Congressman Christopher Cox, El Toro is expected to generate more revenue for the federal government than all other base closures combined.

The funds will be used to clean up underground pollution, which would require clean up regardless of the ultimate use. Remaining funds will be used by the Department of Defense to defray the cost of closing the base. There continues to be significant support for this plan by the local, state and federal elected officials who represent the people of Orange County.