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Orange County Sues To Block Flight Changes At John Wayne Airport

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Orange County is joining Newport Beach in suing the Federal Aviation Administration to block changes in air traffic flight plans for John Wayne Airport.

The Los Angeles Times reported Saturday the county filed its action in federal court earlier this month.

Supervisor Todd Spitzer says the effort is aimed at protecting county communities from noise generated by arriving and departing planes at the county-owned airport.

It was prompted by an environmental impact review the FAA conducted in connection with plans to replace an outdated, ground-based air-traffic control system with a GPS-based one.

The report concluded that changing flight patterns to accommodate the system would cause no significant impact.

The county says a consultant hired by the airport believes the review is inadequate.

The FAA declined comment on pending litigation.

(© Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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