NOMBY -- Not over my back yard

L.A.-area communities oppose airport expansion plans

More than 80 California cities have formed a coalition against expanding Los Angeles International Airport

In this story: From agriculture to international gateway Anti-growth coalition RELATED STORIES, SITES

From Jim Hill
CNN Correspondent

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- As children play in a schoolyard, jetliners make their screaming approach overhead to the Los Angeles International Airport barely a mile away.

"It's just about every minute a plane will be coming over during the peak hours of 7 to 9," said Marcus Hough, a teacher at the Lennox, California, elementary school.

His school's campus is embedded in a hillside, built like a bunker, with thick concrete walls to keep out the noise from above.

The walls, while they may cut down on the air-related racket, can't quiet the debate over plans to make the airport even bigger.

"I think that dilemma that we face here is that everybody wants an airport, but nobody wants to deal with living next to an airport and the negative impacts," said Lydia Kennard, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports.

Originally built in a bean field in 1928, the Los Angeles airport -- LAX, as its abbreviation is known the world over -- handles more than 60 million passengers a year.

LAX handles more than 60 million passengers a year, and the number is expected to increase to 90 million by 2015

To meet the demand of an estimated 90 million passengers by 2015, a plan calls for improving airport runways, building a new terminal and expanding roads, freeways and mass transit in the area.

Next door, the city of El Segundo and its 16,000 people do not want more jets in the skies above their back yards. Mayor Mike Gordon said the expansion puts residents at greater risk.

"LAX today is one of the largest polluters in Southern California," he said. "This problem will become even worse."

More than 80 other municipalities have joined a coalition opposed to expanding LAX, arguing instead that 12 regional airports should grow to handle their share of southern California air travelers.

Federal regulators say all the expansions, including LAX, likely will be necessary.

"Certainly, capacity is an issue in almost every major urban area in the United States these days," said William Withycombe, regional administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Examples are easy to find. Boston, Massachusetts' Logan International Airport in the Northeast, Atlanta, Georgia's Hartsfield International Airport in the South, and Chicago, Illinois' O'Hare International in the Midwest are just three large facilities facing increased pressure.

Each is struggling with controversial growth plans as more Americans take to the skies. They're also having to deal with nearby communities organized in protest against them.

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LAX Master Plan
Los Angeles World Airports
Federal Aviation Administration
Logan International Airport
Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport
O'Hare International Airport

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