Environmental Injustice: Alameda County Court Ruling Greenlights OAK Airport Expansion

Oakland – An Alameda County Superior Court Judge today issued a ruling that ignores the negative environmental and health impacts of the proposed expansion of OAK airport. The Stop OAK Expansion Coalition is preparing to appeal the ruling due to concerns over noise, pollution and health harms from increased air traffic.

The Stop OAK Airport Expansion Coalition sued the Port of Oakland over the flawed Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for the proposed OAK airport expansion, an expansion which includes a third new terminal and up to 16 new gates and 1,000 more parking spaces. The lawsuit centered on transparency, accountability, and mitigation around public health, climate change, air and noise pollution. The FEIR failed to include a Health Impact Assessment (HIA), as requested by the Alameda County Public Health Department in an October 2023 Public Comment Letter. An HIA would assess the cumulative health impact of increased flights on the residents of East Oakland, where the rates of childhood asthma are already the highest in Alameda County. The FEIR instead included only a general study, conducted by an engineering firm, which considered neither the local cumulative health impacts nor ultra fine particulate pollution from jets.  

In addition, evidence that the Port staff had lied to the Port Commissioners about the County Health Department’s request for a Health Impact Assessment was recently uncovered by student members of the Youth Vs. Apocalypse Skyline High School club, using public records requests, and shared by the students with the Port Commissioners at their May 14, 2026 Board meeting, as seen in this video.

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

“The missing Health Impact Assessment, to be conducted by a public health agency as requested by the Alameda County Public Health Department, would examine the impact of increased flights on health inequities in East Oakland, already designated as a high priority community by the State of California due to being disproportionately affected by air pollution.” said Paul English, Ph.D., former Branch Science Advisor for the California Department of Public Health.

The Stop OAK Expansion Coalition is a group of concerned citizens and 80 supporting grassroots organizations working for climate and environmental justice resisting the Oakland airport expansion project.