Getting a grasp on a greased pig
By Martin
Rubin
As a former Santa Monica Airport
Commissioner put it, trying to get Santa Monica City officials and airport staff
to address the air pollution issue from the airport that they own and operate,
is like trying to get a hold of a “greased pig.”
Los Angeles residents to the east of the
airport, just across Bundy Drive get 90% of the fumes from the idling jets.
These obnoxious smelling jet kerosene emissions are carried by the air currents
over the neighborhoods and into the interiors of many hundreds of residences.
Los Angeles borders the airport to the east and the south, but impacted
Angelinos have no representation on their Airport Commission, and are left with
just three-minute public comments to try to get a hold of the “greased
pig”. Without the assistance of our then LA City Council Representative,
Cindy Miscikowski, Santa Monica officials found it easy to say that their hands
are tied by FAA restrictions. Apparently their mouths were tied too, as they did
not even try to make a stink about the stink.
Venice residents are impacted greatly
by the noise from jet take offs that have grown from around 500 to 9,000 annual
take offs. In the early 1990’s (and this is an important fact) Santa
Monica officials requested that the FAA change the procedure for IFR (basically
jets) takeoffs toward the west. They asked that they be allowed to blend in with
the air traffic from LAX. The result of this was twofold. One: takeoffs went
straight out over Venice rather than making a right turn over Santa Monica and,
Two: Because it now became necessary for clearance from the LAX tower for a jet
to take off to the west, jets began to sit idling, often backed up three or four
deep waiting for permission to takeoff. This caused a tremendous increase in the
air pollution dumped into the neighboring Los Angeles communities. At the same
time it dumped a lot of the noise over Venice that would have impacted Santa
Monica even more than they are now.
For
several years request were made to the Airport Commission to record the
taxi/idle times of the jets. This information could be used with computer
modeling to show the extent of the pollution into the surrounding residential
neighborhoods. Airport staff did not budge.
Now legislation has been introduced in
the State Assembly that will require the airport to record this information for
a one-year period.
What was the City
of Santa Monica’s reaction to this? Let me put it this way: When you try
to grab a greased pig, what does it do? You guessed it. Squeal! Mayor Robert
Holbrook sent an opposition letter on behalf of the City to Sacramento.
Quoting from the letter; “AB
2501 is based upon three erroneous assumptions. First: many general aviation
airports in the State of California are situated in dense urban areas and Santa
Monica Municipal Airport is not unique in that respect.
Second, the unfunded mandate for data
collection will not result in any relevant data regarding air quality. Third,
because emissions from streets and highways are the dominant sources of
pollutions in the area there is no mechanism to determine and separately state
the emissions from aircraft that use the Santa Monica Airport.”
This letter was sent without going to
City Council and getting public input. Santa Monica residents cried foul, and
one month later at the May 25 Santa Monica City Council meeting, an item was on
their agenda. Airport Staff requested the adoption of a resolution in opposition
to State Assembly Bill AB2501.
If you
have a computer, I urge you to go to the City of Santa Monica’s home page
and go to the video files for this meeting, item 8a to see and hear for
yourself. There were about a dozen public speakers who waited from 7 pm until
past midnight to express their views and discredited the airport staff’s
report. At times, it seemed from the tone of the questions, that one was at a
committee on un-American activities.
Councilman Kevin McKeown grilled Sierra Club
representative Marcia Hanscom, and he and Councilman Richard Bloom made me feel
like I was being cross examined. The newest Councilmember, Bobby Shriver, was
the most sympathetic to the communities concerns. The outcome was a unanimous
vote to pass a newly formulated motion by Councilman Ken Genser and seconded by
Bobby Shriver. The motion was not to oppose AB 2501 if it would cost the city no
more than $35,000 and would amend the bill to require recording only jet
operations.
Maybe the “greased
pig” is being backed into a corner? I really don’t mean to be harsh,
but the analogy seems to fit, and besides, what is really harsh is being forced
to have the quality of your life and probably your health and the health of your
children, neighbors and pets put under siege by this influx of commuter jet
traffic that only serves to make air travel more comfortable for an elite
class.
Santa Monica officials feel that
the City should not have to pay to collect the AB 2501 required data. They often
say that the City does not make money from the airport. I understand that all
revenues collected at the airport, including the fines for noise violations, go
back into the operations of the airport, and for capital improvement projects.
Residents worked hard to pass Prop. MM
which allows the City to increase fines for noise violations. Surely there is
money to be used from those fines to collect useful data that is in the interest
of the many people who are impacted. Also, what the City does not say is that
since the jet traffic blossomed at SMO, Colorado and Olympic Boulevards have
shot up with office buildings for many of the companies that use the airport. It
has been a boon for business in Santa Monica and that translates into tax
dollars; property taxes and sales taxes.
Now we will just have to wait and see
what responsibility the City of Santa Monica is willing to accept regarding the
operations of its airport. And how will Santa Monica City officials treat their
Los Angeles neighbors when looking at this issue on a regional basis? Los
Angeles Councilman Bill Rosendahl has made a tremendous difference by
representing his constituents fully. State Assemblyman Ted Lieu who introduced
AB 2501 on behalf of Concerned Residents Against Airport Pollution did exactly
what needed to be done. Among the many supporters of this bill are Los Angeles
City Council, Congresswoman Jane Harman and her opponent Marcy Winograd, the
Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Friends of Sunset Park
as well as residents from all around the
airport.
I urge Santa Monica to work
with all of us who are interested in finding solutions. Let’s wash the
grease off and come together at the same table to work out real solutions. It
may not be an easy task ahead, but it is a necessary one.
Martin Rubin is the Director of
Concerned Residents Against Airport Pollution
Posted: Thu - June 1, 2006 at 04:59 PM