Still No Sounds of Compromise on Airport

I am getting rather fed up with all this whining over jet noise at the proposed new airport in El Toro unless you have recently moved to the area.

Doesn’t anyone remember the Marine and Navy jets that used to roar in there, unannounced, at all hours of the day?

According to my uncle, a retired flight dispatcher of 41 years with TWA, and some other friends who are pilots, the noise emitted by a single F-18 fighter jet is twice as loud as a 747. And the fighters used to fly in there by the squadron!

Granted, I live in Dana Point, and when they flew over my house they were still about 4,000 feet. And, yes, they could interrupt a phone call momentarily.

Therefore, I can imagine what it was like for residents of Leisure World and other places directly under the landing approach. I’m sure some people were constantly annoyed by it, but I’ll bet that the vast majority just plain got used to it. It’s like living next to railroad tracks; pretty soon you don’t even pay attention to the trains.

CHARLES T. PINKERTON

Dana Point

* Re “El Toro Noise Report Has Few Surprises,” July 20:

It is both frustrating and infuriating to read about the use of legal limits for noise effect analyses for the proposed airport.

The supervisors have received a mandate from the El Toro residents to trash the idea of an international airport at El Toro.

So why are they using the crutch of “legal limits” to justify their airport efforts? The answer might be to provide support for and to the business community and developers.

What we have here is government of the business community and developers, for the business community and developers, and by the business community and developers.

Where did the supervisor faction that supports the airport get the idea that they are in office for the benefit of business?

Why is there such a blatant disregard for the quality-of-life issues of the El Toro residents? These questions require an answer! The time has come to put the interests of the citizens above the interests of special-interest groups.

Maintain the county’s quality of life!

GILBERT NIXON

Huntington Beach

* Since the vast majority of passengers in and out of John Wayne Airport are from south Orange County, I am assuming that they are very concerned about me and my guests when we have to stop conversations on our patios so that planes can fly over.

Or when we turn up the television and close our windows when planes take off.

My daughter in Seattle and my sister in San Antonio have to do the same thing for their airports. Even the White House has planes flying over it.

Maybe South County residents would curtail their trips in consideration of the people under the flight path of John Wayne Airport. We have “tolerated” this noise for the convenience of the entire population for many years and we are not whining about it.

Yes, we negotiated to have the the minimum flights possible, thereby reducing the impact on us.

I would suggest that south Orange County sit down at the bargaining table and do the same thing rather than drawing soft lines for themselves and hard lines for the rest of us.

FLORENCE STASCH

Newport Beach

* When analyzing the negative noise impacts of a 24-hour-a-day commercial airport at El Toro, please note the 65-CNEL standard demonstrates the dangerous and fraudulent use of statistical averages.

A whole army was drowned when its statistical advisor assured the commanding general his troops could easily and safely ford a river which had an average depth of one foot. What the advisor neglected to reveal was that the river was 10 feet deep in the middle.

One screaming, roaring, 101-decibel 747 jet coming in for a landing at 2 a.m. over Leisure World is that fatal 10-foot depth in the middle of the river.

The CNEL (community noise equivalent level) is a classic misuse of statistical averages.

DAVE BLODGETT

Laguna Woods

* When the pro-airport folks tell the El Toro area residents to “grow up and accept a bit of noise for progress” they should look at the history of LAX.

LAX departures take off to the west and are over the ocean in two miles. Yet many valuable beach homes were condemned and removed.

During the 1960s and early 1970s, the night aircraft approach noise over Watts and Inglewood became unbearable as operations increased.

Finally, officials forced on the airlines and pilots night approaches over the water from the west, with gaps made in traffic flow for takeoffs to the west. This placed a limit on nighttime operations, but finally resulted in sleep for the residents of Watts and Inglewood.

There are no such nighttime noise abatement options available at El Toro. With the level of operations proposed for El Toro, no one within about three miles of the airport and within the noise footprints of the approach paths from the south, or the takeoff paths to the east, will ever have a good night’s sleep again.

LAX does “go east” during some windy wintertime storms. Try working and living in the Inglewood area then.

But even when that happens, the approach operations are over the ocean. El Toro not only has too-close mountains, it has no options for nighttime or adverse winds.

WALLY ROBERTS

San Clemente

* Following my initial surprise at Rep. Christopher Cox’s decision to support the initiative requiring a two-thirds majority vote for NIMBY-sensitive projects (July 8), I realize that Cox is simply responding to what he sees as the majority interest in his district. Politicians follow the votes, and Cox is apparently no different. I trust, however, that Cox will also support the people he represents in Newport Beach when we also speak (and vote).

The South County position seems to be that any airport is a blight, a danger to our children and our health and property values. If this is the case, then I trust South County voters will join with us to not only block any expansion of John Wayne, but also to close this airport as well.

Bruce Nestande is absolutely right in his assessment that Cox’s position could result in an upsurge in Newport Beach activism. There are many, many residents who bought their properties prior to the settlement agreement with the county. Many others bought property here with the understanding that we must “share the pain” of development, which has resulted in the increase in demand for air transportation.

Newport Beach and other communities have patiently carried this burden for 15 years. We have witnessed the explosion of growth in South County and its subsequent strain on ground transportation capabilities, natural resources, wildlife, water supply and quality, and airport capacity. It appears now that the concept of “sharing the pain” is an anachronism.

Cox’s position signals the switch from a communal value system to one of “don’t mess with my personal space.” South County has spoken its narcissistic words, and Cox has listened to what he sees as his major voting bloc. So be it. Now we know what it takes to be heard: not compromise and diplomacy, but strident protest. As this is our new mode of community activism, I trust all of Orange County will unify to block expansion of, and eventually close, John Wayne Airport.

KAREN LINKLETTER

Newport Beach

* The consequences of the proposed El Toro airport go beyond economic development, noise and pollution. It represents a further erosion of the quality of life in southern Orange County.

Over the years I have seen our beautiful open spaces developed with thousands of homes and businesses. Traffic congestion on our local streets and freeways continues to grow. The county faces chronic housing shortages, resulting in skyrocketing housing prices that lock many people out of the home market.

There has been an increase in dumping raw sewage into the ocean, resulting from overburdened treatment systems.

I moved to southern Orange County to escape the congestion and density of Los Angeles and northern Orange County. Piece by piece the lifestyle and quality of life I sought is being eroded.

El Toro will be the final blow, turning the south into another Los Angeles. Economic development is good, but at what cost?

ALEX YOSMAN

Laguna Niguel