Airport Bill Gains Momentum

By Olin Ericksen
Staff Writer

May 18 -- The Los Angeles City Council Wednesday threw its weight behind a controversial effort to gauge possible air pollution blowing from Santa Monica Airport into adjacent neighborhoods.

All twelve council members backed a resolution penned by Westside Council member Bill Rosendahl to support a State bill that would require Santa Monica officials to publicly record the taxi and idle times of jet operations for one year. (see story)

The data would be used to eventually determine when, where and how pollution from the 18,000 jets that fly in and out of the tiny airport every year may affect residents in surrounding areas.

While several local council members oppose to the bill, saying it is expensive, duplicative of other studies and singles out Santa Monica’s airport for increased scrutiny, Rosendahl’s resolution adds momentum to efforts to pass the bill, which has been backed by Los Angeles, County, state and even Federal officials.

“We’re not going to stand for it anymore,” Rosendahl said of the pollution he and other officials claim is blown into adjacent neighborhoods south and east of the airport.

The residents of Los Angeles and Mar Vista neighborhood who live near the airport have no voice, because they cannot vote in Santa Monica, Rosendahl said.

In addition, Santa Monica’s proximity to nearby residents is one of the main reasons they support the bill authored by Ted Lieu of the 53rd Assembly District, even though it singles out Santa Monica airport, proponents said.

The original draft of the State bill mandated that all airports undertake such data collection, which Santa Monica officials believe may cost the City close to $500,000 to implement.

“They are so close and yet no buffer exists,” said Rosendahl of the single street that separates some residents from the airport. “This resolution lets Santa Monica realize we in Los Angeles are fed up with these jets.”

Santa Monica airport officials counter that there are several airports in the United States that have high volumes of traffic that are in close proximity to neighborhoods, including the Hayward Airport in Northern California.

The news about the Los Angeles resolution was welcomed by a group of residents that for years has tried to have the issue addressed.

“We’ve been trying to do something like this for eight years,” said Martin Rubin, head of the Concerned Residents Against Airport Pollution. “This is the first time the City of Los Angeles has spoken on our behalf… The momentum is definitely building.”

While both sides squabble over how much this may cost Santa Monica, City officials argue that the entire analysis is unnecessary, since the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has already funded a $400,000 air quality monitoring study, currently underway with the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

While Rosendahl and Lieu said the monitoring study – which is being performed at other airports – is important, they believe that it does not go far enough to address the health concerns of residents near the Santa Monica airport.

The raw data collected on idling times would be later used in a “modeling” study favored by the EPA to study the effects of pollution on a specific area, Rosendahl said.