Attacks stir El Toro debate

Paul Clinton

NEWPORT-MESA -- Tuesday’s terrorist attacks -- the biggest story of a

lifetime -- are having unexpected consequences on Orange County’s biggest

story -- the El Toro airport debate.

In a blistering attack on his colleagues, Supervisor Tom Wilson said

he was disappointed that consideration of the airport for the El Toro

Marine Corps Air Station was not postponed past a planned hearing next

week.

The board voted in closed session Tuesday to move ahead with a final

vote scheduled for Monday, without going through a much-anticipated

safety report from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The report was set to be released Wednesday, but because of the

terrorist acts was postponed indefinitely.

“This FAA analysis is critical to the board’s consideration” of the

airport, Wilson said. “Without a moment’s consideration, the board voted

not to even discuss the issue.”

On Tuesday, four airplanes were hijacked. Two were crashed into the

World Trade Center, sending its twin towers crumbling to the ground. A

third plane crashed into the Pentagon, and the fourth crashed in a rural

part of Pennsylvania.

On Monday, the board is set to certify the highly contentious

environmental report for the airport. The county has proposed an airport

that could handle 28.8 million passengers, but board members have

indicated they prefer a smaller facility.

Airport supporters said the terrorist attacks were an example of how

crucial a second airport could be in a wartime situation.

“It should be a wake-up call,” Newport Beach Councilman Steve Bromberg

said. “As long as we have the airport there, it can be turned into a

military use with the snap of a finger.”

Another possibility being talked about Wednesday was possibly rolling

back the clock on the base’s closure and reopen it as a military base. It

was closed in 1998.

The Department of Defense has said it would turn the base over to the

county as part of the Base Realignment and Closure Act in March 2002.

The county leases the property from the Navy, but that agreement could

be voided if the federal government wants to reopen the base as a

military facility.

Not surprisingly, South County leaders aren’t too enthusiastic about

either proposal.

“That’s preposterous,” said Meg Waters, an anti-airport spokeswoman.

“I think it’s rather sick that they’re trying to use this tragedy to

further this debate.”