FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 14, 2026
JUDGE GREEN-LIGHTS POLLUTING OAKLAND AIRPORT EXPANSION
Despite this setback, the fight to protect East Oakland’s health and environment continues
Oakland, CA — On Monday an Alameda County judge ruled that the Port of Oakland can move forward with its polluting expansion of the Oakland International Airport (OAK) despite clear harm to Oakland residents, airport workers, and the planet.
OAK operates in East Oakland, a predominantly Black and Latine low-income community that has experienced decades of heavy pollution from aviation, industrial facilities, freeways, and more. This community has some of the worst air quality and environmental health outcomes in California, and pollutants from airport operations contribute to these harms.
“We are disappointed with the court’s decision to green-light this polluting airport expansion, and will continue to fight for our equal right to a healthy environment. We have to stop investing in industries that hurt many for the profit of few and reinvest in good, healthy jobs, including sustainable transportation,” says Adele Watts, East Oakland resident and program director at Communities for a Better Environment.
Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) continues to assert that the Port of Oakland ignored East Oakland community members, airport workers, scientists, doctors, environmental organizations, and other government agencies who have warned that their proposed expansion plan was not sufficiently studied or disclosed to the public, and that expanding OAK will cost human health and lives.
“While we are still reviewing the court’s decision, we stand firm in our belief that the approval of this project violates the law and are now considering our next steps,” says Sarah Chen Small, attorney with CBE.
The science is clear: airports make surrounding communities and workers sick and worsen climate change. Fossil jet fuel combustion emits huge volumes of climate change-inducing greenhouse gasses (GHG) and toxic air emissions that are most concentrated at airport worksites and in surrounding communities.
East Oakland community members already face daily risks from adverse environmental conditions and they deserve to know the truth about this plan and its health impacts.
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