Oakland airport expansion opponents hit port with 2 lawsuits

"CEQA is about informing the public and really considering the project, its environmental impact and how it's going to potentially change an entire community and in this case the port hasn't done that," said Ruby Acevedo, a lawyer with Communities for a Better Environment. "At the heart of this really is their failure to the community to inform them and to give them the disclosures necessary for them to understand what kind of harm [this project] is going to cause."

Communities for a Better Environment is seeking a court order that would prevent the Environmental Impact Report from being certified, a necessary step before the port can move ahead with the project. The group also wants an injunction to halt initial demolition plans.

Both groups claim the airport did not adequately take into account the pre-existing environmental conditions present in the East Oakland community. According to Stop OAK Expansion Coalition, the health assessment conducted by the port to understand how a bigger airport might impact the community has been insufficient.

Read at The Oaklandside