By Kevin McKeown Santa Monica City Council
West LA resident Marty Rubin “All eyes on the city’s airport pollution issue,” (SMDP, May 31, page 4) never mentions the reason Santa Monica failed to embrace Assemblymember Lieu’s sudden data-gathering legislation: Our city staff initially estimated it would have cost us in Santa Monica an unfunded and unbudgeted $400,000.
In this past week we have worked with Assemblymember Lieu, who has agreed to amend the bill. Santa Monica has proposed a study coordinated with the scientifically valid Southern California Air Quality Management District particulate gradient study already underway. The Santa Monica proposal would cost about $35,000, a far more efficient use of resources.
I agree more should be done, including runway safety buffer zones, and have worked aggressively on airport problems with Friends of Sunset Park, in the interest of residents on both sides of the LA border.
Fact: The federal government controls aircraft operations and emissions, not the City of Santa Monica. We simply cannot mandate flight paths or engine idle times, no matter how much we’d like to. We tried to ban the jets at our airport many years ago, and were crushed in court.
We’d urge non-Santa Monicans interested in cleaner air and a safer airport to join us in our difficult continuing battle to change Federal Aviation Administration policy on local jet operations, rather than merely express their frustration by spanking Santa Monica taxpayers. Our residents are stuck with the airport too.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 5, 2006. Read the original PDF.