FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 26, 2025
Lawsuit Opposing OAK Airport Expansion Continues: East Oakland Environmental Injustices Exacerbated by Alameda Settlement with Port of Oakland
Oakland, CA – East Oakland residents, yet again, would face the brunt of the pollution burden from the proposed OAK Airport expansion under the settlement agreement reached last week between Alameda and the Port of Oakland. On December 19, 2024, Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) filed a lawsuit against the Port, challenging the environmental review for the proposed OAK Airport expansion. This settlement only exacerbates CBE’s concerns by dictating that pollution will be further concentrated in already heavily polluted working-class communities of color in East Oakland.
The settlement agreement, resulting from closed-door negotiations between the Port, the City of Alameda, and a residents group named Citizens League for Airport Safety and Serenity (CLASS), entrenches environmental injustice. Notably, the settlement states the Port:
- Will “discourage trips…from using City of Alameda local roads” and instead direct traffic “to access the Airport through primary access routes (98th Avenue and Hegenberger Road in Oakland),” cutting right through the heart of Deep East Oakland.
- Will collaborate with the City of Alameda to pressure online map platforms to preferentially route all airport traffic through East Oakland and away from Alameda via digital navigation.
- Will further codify the Port’s flight protocols that encourage routing flights over I-880 and through East Oakland to avoid Alameda and Bay Farm residents.
- Will regularly report to Alameda residents about major plans, noise, air quality and traffic – without any comparable commitment to Oakland.
“Through this settlement, the Port is doubling down on its legacy of concentrating pollution in transit corridors that, due to a history of redlining and racist land use policies, run through neighborhoods where thousands of black and brown East Oakland residents live, work, and learn,” said Gustavo Gutierrez, CBE East Oakland Youth Organizer.
East Oakland experiences some of the most polluted air in California where emissions from fossil-fuel engines contribute locally to high rates of cancer, heart and lung disease, and reduced life expectancy. The settlement is a clear example of environmental injustice.
The Port is continuing a century-long pattern of concentrating pollution in East Oakland, a working-class community of color, so the wealthier, whiter Alameda will not bear the cost of industry greed. Both Alameda and East Oakland communities strenuously argued for their rights to a livable environment, yet the Port chose to resolve Alameda residents’ valid concerns by funneling pollution into East Oakland.
For all these reasons, CBE remains committed to enforcing the California Environmental Quality Act and ensuring the Port meets its legal obligation to disclose and mitigate the environmental harms to all impacted communities – not just those historically favored.