Media Advisory
For Immediate Release
9 April 2026
Contact: Luz Hernandez (214) 957-9242 or luz@cbecal.org
TUESDAY: EAST OAKLAND STANDS UP TO POLLUTING AIRPORT EXPANSION
Press conference near Superior Court highlights community demands for a thorough environmental analysis of the proposed project
Oakland, CA — On Tuesday, April 14 at 9 AM, East Oakland residents, community leaders, and advocates will hold a press conference just before the first trial hearing in a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) lawsuit against the Port of Oakland.
Despite major impacts to Oakland residents, airport workers, and the climate, in 2024 the Port used a substandard environmental report to justify a massive expansion of Oakland International Airport (OAK).
Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) is suing the Port for sacrificing East Oaklanders’ health and safety, and violating CEQA.
What: Community members and advocates will gather outside of the courthouse with signs and banners to advocate for East Oaklanders’ right to live, work, play and breathe in a healthy environment
When: Tuesday, April 14, 9 AM
Who: Adele Watts and Gustavo Gutierrez with Communities for a Better Environment, Nina Turner with HOPE Collaborative, and statements from East Oakland community members.
Where: Lake Merritt Amphitheatre, Between 12th Street and 1st Ave., Lake Merritt Blvd, Oakland, CA 94612
Background: OAK operates in East Oakland, a predominantly Black and Latine working class community that currently experiences some of the worst air quality and environmental health outcomes in California. Roughly 36,000 people who live in communities neighboring OAK have higher asthma rates than 99% of California. Workers on an airport tarmac are especially impacted, being exposed to ultrafine particulate matter pollution equivalent to an enclosed smoking room.
The Port’s Environmental Impact Report:
- Fails to provide basic project information (e.g. total number of new gates to be built not specified)
- Denies responsibility for aircraft pollution
- Understates impacts to human health, air quality, climate change, noise, traffic, and hazardous contamination
- Fails to mitigate the expansion’s impacts
- Fails to consider alternatives that could be less environmentally harmful, like modernization without expansion
Get more information at cbecal.org/stop-oak
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Communities for a Better Environment is one of the nation’s preeminent environmental justice organizations. CBE’s mission is to build people’s power in California’s low-income communities of color to achieve environmental health and justice by preventing and reducing pollution by building green, healthy, and sustainable communities and environments.