Navy Study Backs Move of E-2Cs to Point Mugu

POINT MUGU —  A plan to move 16 E-2C Hawkeye radar planes to the Point Mugu Navy base could degrade air quality and crowd local schools as more military families move to Ventura County, a Navy environmental study concludes.

But the 400-page report reaffirms the Navy’s choice of Point Mugu for the four squadrons, stating that the move’s impacts can be controlled.

Officials at Point Mugu Naval Air Weapons Station on Monday were not available to discuss the report, which was released by the Navy to environmental groups Wednesday.

However, local Navy boosters cheered the findings as a crucial step toward fortifying the base against future rounds of closures.

“This helps to anchor Point Mugu down as a base that will survive,” Ventura County Supervisor John K. Flynn said. “The Navy would not bring the E-2s here if they didn’t have future plans for the base. It’s a blessing for Ventura County.”

Environmentalists contended the study downplays the pollution and noise the radar planes could bring.

In May, the Navy announced its intent to relocate the planes to Point Mugu from Miramar Naval Air Station, which this fall was converted to a Marine base and is now called Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

The planes fly with aircraft carrier battle groups and provide assistance with air traffic. Advanced radar transmitters atop the planes detect enemy aircraft.

The decision to bring them to Point Mugu marked a surprise reversal of an earlier Navy plan that would have stationed the squadrons at Lemoore Naval Air Station in the Central Valley. In the new report, Lemoore and El Centro Naval Air Facility are presented as more costly relocation sites that could also experience environmental problems.

The transfer to Point Mugu would occur between July 1998 and January 1999, and bring 988 military personnel to the base. With spouses and children, they would create what the report calls an “E-2 community” of 2,488 people.

The Navy report suggests the influx of residents would boost the Ventura County economy, which took a hit from the trimming of 1,400 Navy personnel in the early 1990s.

One of the most serious problems addressed by the study, however, is the addition of students to public schools near Point Mugu. In 1999, at the peak of the relocation, 429 more students would be expected to enroll in schools near the base.

Acknowledging that area schools are “either near or over capacity,” the Navy suggests school officials apply for Department of Education money earmarked for districts affected by federal activity. The federal money might be used to build new campuses, rent classroom space or bus children to less crowded schools.

Francisco Dominguez, an Oxnard Elementary School District trustee, said the new students would strain several elementary districts, including Ocean View and Hueneme.

Oxnard elementary officials run 13 schools with 14,000 students at full capacity, Dominguez said. Although they plan to open two new schools in the next five years, they must use portable classrooms and a year-round schedule to accommodate the growing student population.

“I’m not saying it’s bad news. It might be good for the Oxnard area, bringing in those jobs for the economic base,” Dominguez said of the planned military relocation. “But our growth [projections] do not anticipate those kids.”

Paul Chapman, president of the Ocean View Elementary School District Board of Trustees, said the district has discussed with federal officials a plan to build a new school on the base.

“That’s a very viable way to deal with it, as opposed to bringing kids to a crowded campus,” Chapman said.

Air quality is another issue Navy officials must address.

According to the report, added flights and testing, along with new construction, could increase ozone pollution beyond Ventura County’s accepted level.

However, the report argues that recent reductions in activity at Point Mugu would more than compensate for pollution caused by the E-2Cs, allowing the base to conform with the county’s air quality standards.

That reasoning alarms the group Beacon, made up of Oxnard beach-area residents who have pressured the Navy for more thorough environmental studies of its projects.

“What difference does it make that in 1990 there was more ozone generated at Point Mugu?” said Lee Quaintance, a member of the environmental group. Quaintance argued that Ventura County continues to suffer from poor air quality, and that the E-2Cs can only make the situation worse, even if no government guidelines are violated.

The report also states that residents would hear minimal noise once the E-2Cs take flight.

It explains that the twin-engine turboprop planes are 10 decibels quieter than fighter jets, and that noise levels in nearby communities such as Oxnard, Port Hueneme and Camarillo would always be less than 75 decibels during E-2C flights.

Quaintance, however, wasn’t convinced. He said he wants to see detailed information on the E-2C flight paths to round out the Navy’s noise analysis.

In addition, the report points out that wetlands surrounding Point Mugu may contain some important prehistoric relics. Any construction near such sites would be halted if an archeological discovery were made.

The report rules out the possibility that Point Mugu Navy base will receive new F/A-18 strike jets. That squadron is expected to go to Lemoore, where older models of the plane are already stationed. Some Ventura County officials had expressed hope of landing the F/A-18s, while others acknowledged the chances were slim.

Federal officials have keyed on Point Mugu for the E-2C relocation largely because the base already has hangars to accommodate them, unlike Lemoore and El Centro. Officials estimate that taxpayers could save $30 million if hangars at Mugu are remodeled instead of being built from scratch elsewhere.

Moving ahead with the plan, the Navy will hold a community meeting on the Hawkeye planes Dec. 9 at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center. The process will continue with a period for written statements and a final review by the secretary of the Navy.