Oakland Airport Plans a Big Expansion. Environmental Groups Want to Hit Pause

Environmental groups are asking an Oakland judge to halt the city’s major airport expansion, which would significantly increase air travel through the East Bay.

Three lawsuits opposing Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport’s major renovation say the Port of Oakland violated environmental laws when it approved plans for the modernization project and argue that it should not be allowed to move forward without further assessment by public health experts.

Communities for a Better Environment, Advocates for the Environment, and Stop OAK Expansion Coalition also say the project will exacerbate poor environmental health impacts in already disproportionately polluted neighborhoods of East Oakland. The groups’ lawsuits are being heard simultaneously on Tuesday.

“This expansion should not happen until there is an objective health impact assessment conducted by people with the public health expertise to make a prediction of what … based on data and research, the impact would be on the people who live near the airport,” said Dr. Mark Jacobson, a professor of medicine emeritus at UC San Francisco  and a member of the Stop OAK Expansion Coalition.

The airport modernization project includes planned renovations to its two terminals, which opened in 1962 and 1985, upgrades for aging facilities, an expanded international arrivals area and 16 new gates — about a 55% increase from the airport’s current 29.

The Port of Oakland said the renovation is meant to “meet the regional demand and provide a world class experience” for fliers.

The groups that filed suit allege that an environmental review certified by the Port of Oakland is inadequate and are asking the court to require a health impact assessment conducted by the Alameda County Public Health Department.

According to Jacobson, a health impact report, separate from the environmental impact report, would take into consideration the underlying health of populations expected to be most affected by the expansion.

East Oakland, a predominantly Black and Latino community, “already bears the brunt of toxic land uses and other environmental stressors,” the lawsuits say.

“The health of community members living near Oakland Airport is already severely compromised by existing airport operations, nearby transportation corridors and industrial activities,” Communities for a Better Environment argued in its legal complaint.

East Oakland residents who live closest to the airport are in the 100th percentile of asthma rates in the state, according to the suit. Some of the area’s neighborhoods are also ranked among the most burdened by multiple sources of pollution in California, according to a mapping tool created by the California Environmental Protection Agency.

Jacobson said neighborhoods adjacent to the airport have the highest rate of mortality due to heart attacks and the highest rate of pediatric emergency room visits for asthma exacerbations in Alameda County.

The harmful health effects are largely due to the ultrafine particles, or small bits of carbon, that are released into the atmosphere when airplane fuel combusts, he said. The particles are associated with increased risk of heart attack, atherosclerotic disease and lung disease.

Jacobson also said airplane exhaust releases benzene, a carcinogen that causes lymphoma and leukemia.

While neighboring Alameda has developed a noise abatement policy with the Port of Oakland, Gustavo Gutierrez, an East Oakland organizer with Communities for a Better Environment, said similar settlements weren’t offered to Oakland neighborhoods.

Alameda’s deal, he said, reroutes planes over East Oakland neighborhoods, since they are more industrial areas.

“But when you look at our map and when you look at our city and you look at our neighborhoods, you see that all the warehouses are right next to homes,” he told KQED.

Throughout the environmental review process, Gutierrez said the nonprofit and a coalition of activists opposed to the expansion pushed for a health impact report, but the port refused to conduct one, in part leading to the suit.

He said the nonprofit also pursued the suit because the environmental impact review that the port completed “grossly understates what the scope of the project is.”

Port of Oakland spokesperson Justin Berton said the port’s “outreach and community engagement efforts with residents exceeded requirements” during the environmental impact review process.

“The Port met with several groups over several years to discuss noise abatement, air quality, and other environmental resources of concern that was in the EIR,” he said in a statement.

The lawsuit from Communities for a Better Environment argues that the report provides an incomplete description of the modernization project, including the scope of its expansion of activity, and relies on outdated airport activity data from before the COVID-19 pandemic, which reflects higher rates of travel.

Gutierrez said increasing air travel would also increase the number of freight trucks in the area, since the Oakland airport is a hub for FedEx.

In a statement, Berton said the environmental impact review certified by the port’s Board of Commissioners followed a “comprehensive review by staff.”

“The Final [Environmental Impact Report] was based on substantial evidence and expert analysis, and the Port looks forward to defending the EIR and the project in public hearings,” he said via email.

Judge Michael Markman could rule as soon as Tuesday on whether to require a further review or allow the project to proceed.