El Toro Marine Corps Air Station was a military airport located near Irvine, California. It was decommissioned in 1999 and turned back over to the state and local governments. The site contains four large, intersecting runways and many wanted a civilian international airport constructed on the site. The battle between pro-airport residents in northern Orange County and anti-airport residents in southern Orange County dominated county politics for much of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Local residents of surrounding areas such as Irvine and Newport Beach, alarmed at the possibility of aircraft noise, lobbied for other uses. Airport proposals were defeated in two ballot initiatives in which most of the voters were from southern Orange County. The results were challenged in court, and as of this writing (summer 2003) it appears that the anti-airport forces are winning and the former Marine Corps station will be developed for light-industrial uses. Meanwhile, Southern California's growing population will continue to increase passenger loads at Los Angeles International Airport and at Long Beach Airport -- both located in Los Angeles County whose residents didn't get to vote on the El Toro ballot measures.
El Toro was "destroyed" in the science-fiction film Independence Day (1996).
