"San Diego Airport Authority to decide whether to study military sites"

Monday, December 5, 2005

Airport authority to decide whether to study military sites 
The San Diego (CA) Union-Tribune


SAN DIEGO - The San Diego County Regional Airport Authority's nine- member
board will consider today a study of five regional military installations as
sites for a new airport.
 
An advisory group, formed to review proposed sites for a new international
airport in advance of a November 2006 ballot measure on the issue, voted 8-5
last week in favor of the authority moving ahead with the study. 

Military sites to be evaluated include Marine Corps Air Station Miramar,
Miramar East, Camp Pendleton, Naval Air Station North Island and March Air
Reserve Base in Riverside County. 

The airport authority initially delayed consideration of the sites pending
the outcome of the Defense Department's recent base realignment and closure
process. None of the installations was on the Pentagon's hit list. 

Citing air space issues and other concerns, the military indicated it was
opposed to any civilian joint-use of bases for an airport. 

Military officials are expected to speak out today against the proposed
study, an airport authority spokeswoman said. 

The airport authority, which operates San Diego International Airport, is
charged with evaluating sites before a public vote on a site for a new
commercial airport. 

Also under consideration are sites in Boulevard and the Imperial County
desert, as well as an expansion of Lindbergh Field.


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