El Toro Airport Debate Still Rages

The Capistrano Unified School District trustees voted unanimously on June 9 to oppose construction of a commercial airport at El Toro.

In their deliberations, they focused on well-established facts concerning the negative impacts of aircraft noise and pollution on children.

The El Toro Airport Info Site, an all-volunteer World Wide Web site team, based in Dana Point, Aliso Viejo and Irvine, gathered some of the studies considered by the board. One of the most compelling pieces of research is a 1995 study of children living near Munich International Airport. They experienced numerous reading, memory and motivational problems attributable to aircraft noise.

The airport was subsequently closed and a new one opened elsewhere. The children near the old airport began to recover and those near the new airport began to show similar adverse cognitive effects.

Summaries of the Munich study, and of a new Cornell University study which shows a dramatic drop in reading scores at schools near airports, are available on the El Toro Airport site at http//www.eltoroairport.org

The web site contains news, issues, research and information to encourage citizen involvement in the El Toro reuse debate.

LEONARD KRANSER

Editor

El Toro Airport Info Site

Dana Point

Orange County needs a larger airport.

For a county the size of ours, John Wayne Airport is inadequate. Its land size and close proximity to homes restrict it from future growth.

For those who have seriously studied the issue and are not biased due to home location, there is no question that the El Toro site must become a commercial airport.

The economic advantage is a significant consideration. It would be criminal to use that land for anything other than our county’s most pressing need going into the 21st century--an airport to meet our growing air traffic demands.

A. GALLAGHER

Costa Mesa

John Wayne Airport is the perfect location for a sports complex that includes a football stadium and a basketball arena.

The airport could maintain one runway and hangars for the elite and the team planes. Hotel, shopping, dining, entertainment, and even medical would all be on site.

Moving the majority of air traffic from John Wayne to El Toro makes sense because of the noise abatement that is in place and room for expansion.

The success of this is driven by the abundance of sports fans in Orange County who for years have been watching teams from afar. The National Basketball Assn. offers either the Lakers or the Clippers.

The National Football League can’t ignore the revenue that this area can provide; but this area demands an NFL team that is professional and hopefully home-grown, not relocated.

SCOTT OWEN

Newport Beach

Re “County Approves P.R. Effort on Airport Plan,” June 4:

Since its founding over one hundred years ago, the PTA has been committed to being an advocate for the health, safety and welfare of children.

With that in mind, the PTA of Aliso Viejo Middle School has taken an official position against the conversion of El Toro Marine base into a commercial airport. We members of this organization are convinced that such an airport will not only affect our children’s health and safety, but will also impair their learning.

It has been extremely frustrating to us that the majority of the supervisors continue to minimize the negative impacts that this airport will have upon our children. We are particularly frustrated with their recent decision to spend our tax dollars in a “public information campaign.”

This decision not only shows disregard for our children’s well-being, but it is also demonstrates a total lack of fiscal responsibility. It is very apparent that no lessons were learned in the bankruptcy debacle.

MARYANNE MARSHALL ROSE

Vice President, Legislation

Aliso Viejo Middle School PTA

Laguna Niguel