SANTA MONICA AIRPORT Screaming “enough” and wearing dust masks for a dramatic flair, more than 100 neighbors and politicians rallied here on Saturday against what they see as one annoying neighbor.
It was all a day early celebration of Earth Day, observed nationwide on Sunday.
Neighborhood and activist groups such as Concerned Residents Against Airport Pollution, the Friends of Sunset Park and the North Westdale Neighborhood Association organized the two-hour long protest with Los Angeles City Councilmember Bill Rosendahl’s office, whose district includes West Los Angeles, including part of the Santa Monica Airport.
The rally held in front of the airport’s administration building on Donald Douglas Loop South was a call for action for stricter regulations against the Santa Monica Airport, and was an effort to raise awareness about the potentially toxic emissions from planes using the facility.
The sea of protesters was well-equipped with signs, some reading “toxic airport” with an illustration of a skull and crossbones. Another sign read “jet setters, you’re killing us.” One of the most popular signs showed an illustration of a family of five standing in front of their home. Each member of the family was wearing a gas mask as an plane flew above their heads, emitting a stream of black smoke below it.
With flights dating back to as early as 1917, the Santa Monica Airport is considered to be the oldest operating airport in Los Angeles County.
Following a long list of speakers including Assemblyman Ted Lieu from the 53rd Assembly District, Susan Hartley, vice-chairman of Santa Monica Airport, and Santa Monica City Councilman Kevin McKeown, the protesters, many of whom were wearing dust masks, concluded the rally with a march down Bundy Drive.
Throughout the rally, the sounds of take offs from the runway would drown out the sounds of the rally cries and speakers.At the exact moment when Rosendahl finished his speech, saying “bless you all and thank you all for being here,” a plane took off behind him, causing several people to snicker.
Lieu, whose district covers communities along the coast from the Santa Monica-Venice border down to Torrance, recently introduced legislation that would require the State Air Resource Board to undergo a study of jets and turbo-propeller airplanes taking off and landing from Santa Monica Airport for a year.
AB700 would require the airport to record the idle and taxi times of all jet and turbo propeller airplanes and make the data available to the public. The proposed legislation has already been approved by the state assembly’s Natural Resources Committee.
One of the most vilified figures in the protest was the Federal Aviation Administration, which was criticized for its perceived lack of action against the activities at the Santa Monica Airport. Councilman Kevin McKeown, who publicly came out in support of Lieu’s bill at the rally, said city officials recently met with FAA officials, who seemed “dismissive” and “unfamiliar with the issues” at the airport.
“The problem in this airport is a regional problem,” McKeown said to a crowd of cheering protesters. “I regret this airport is called Santa Monica Airport.”
Many of the fed-up neighbors who attended the rally have lived in the area for decades, including famous skate-boarder and filmmaker Stacy Peralta, who grew up in Mar Vista and now lives in Sunset Park. He grew up amongst the fumes from the airport.
The Peralta home in Sunset Park fills with so much jet exhaust that the windows and doors are sealed shut, even during the warmer summer months, he said. The situation has become such a nuisance that the family often goes out of town on the weekends.
“This airport has gotten so bad,it’s as if our home is built on an aircraft,”Peralta said.“The airport is the most abusive corporate citizen in every single aspect from sound to pollution.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 23, 2007. Read the original PDF.