Residents of the five-mile radius around Seattle-Tacoma International Airport file class-action lawsuit over exposure to unique mix of pollutants that can cause cancer, heart disease, lower life expectancy

Residents of the city of SeaTac and surrounding areas today filed a lawsuit against the Port of Seattle, Alaska Air Group Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc., alleging that airport operations contaminate neighborhoods near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac Airport) with a combination of pollutants including carbon monoxide, lead and particulate matter, according to attorneys at Hagens Berman.

The lawsuit, which was filed on April 19, 2023, in King County Superior Court, claims the Port of Seattle, which owns Sea-Tac Airport, and the airline companies have known about the pollutants and their associated health risks for years and have done nothing to mitigate them, despite the pollutants’ possible link to hundreds of excess deaths in the area every year, according to researchers.

If you live within a five-mile radius of Sea-Tac Airport, find out your rights.

“Our local communities deserve to breathe clean air and to know that their homes and schools are free from dangerous pollutants. At this juncture, given the refusal to deal with the issue by the Port and the airlines, we believe this lawsuit is the only way to secure that future,” said Steve Berman, partner at Seattle-based Hagens Berman and the attorney leading the suit. “We are bringing claims of public nuisance, trespass and negligence against the Port of Seattle, Alaska and Delta, which is the same legal strategy our firm deployed in an historic win against Big Tobacco in the 90s.”

More than 300,000 people, including more than 60,000 children, live within what attorneys are calling the “Contamination Zone” around Sea-Tac Airport. Within the Contamination Zone, which includes but is not limited to Burien, Des Moines, SeaTac and Tukwila, rates of cancer, heart disease and chronic lower respiratory disease are significantly higher than in surrounding areas, researchers have concluded.

Airport Pollutants Leave Unique “Chemical Fingerprints” on Schools and Homes

According to the complaint, planes taking off and landing at Sea-Tac Airport spew pollutants like formaldehyde and acrolein into the atmosphere. Particulate matter containing toxic chemicals can flake off airplanes during flight, raining heavy metals like lead, barium and cadmium onto the area below, where it can settle on homes, schools and the surrounding environment.

The lawsuit references a public health report and several studies, including one pertaining specifically to schools, which concluded that communities within the Contamination Zone are contaminated with a unique blend of particulate matter, dangerous gases and hazardous air pollutants. Studies of other international airports have yielded evidence of high concentrations of lead and other heavy metals in the surrounding soil, and attorneys say it is likely that the soil around Sea-Tac Airport is similarly tainted. Other researchers have concluded that airport emissions may have unique “chemical fingerprints,” leading attorneys to believe that airport operations are the only plausible source of the pollutants observed in the area.

“The research is very clear,” Berman said. “The unique chemical fingerprints left behind from airport pollutants are a smoking gun in this scenario, leading researchers to exactly which parties are responsible for the increased levels of pollution in the Contamination Zone south of Seattle. We are demanding long-overdue accountability from the Port and the airline companies.”

Vulnerable Populations Pay the Steepest Price

According to the lawsuit, residents of the Contamination Zone suffer from shorter life expectancies and higher risk of cancer and other serious illnesses.

Residents of the Contamination Zone are more likely to be immigrants than residents of surrounding areas, and the majority are Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, in a county where only a third of the overall population belongs to these groups. More than 30% of Zone residents have total household incomes under 200% of the federal poverty level. The complaint alleges that it is unlikely the defendants would have allowed pollution to continue unchecked if the neighborhoods surrounding the airport were more affluent.

“This is an issue of environmental justice, and we’re going to bat for our friends and neighbors on this one,” Berman said. “Our firm has been based in Seattle since its founding in 1993, and we have deep roots in our local community.”

One of the named plaintiffs in the case, Michelle Geer, lived within the Contamination Zone for many years, in a home that she and her husband could feel shake every time a plane passed overhead. Geer was living in this home when she became pregnant with her first child, the lawsuit states. On Thanksgiving morning in 1994, Geer’s four-year-old daughter, who had been born with a hearing impairment, began walking at a strange angle. Shortly thereafter, she was diagnosed with brain cancer and passed away a few weeks after her fifth birthday. Geer believes that exposure to airport pollution during her pregnancy may have contributed to her daughter’s hearing impairment and the cancer which ultimately took her life, according to the complaint.

In addition to public nuisance, the lawsuit brings claims of negligence, continuing intentional trespass and violation of inverse condemnation laws against the Port.. The suit seeks to hold defendants accountable for funding a cleanup of the area, compensating residents for the loss of use and enjoyment of their property and establishing a medical monitoring fund.

Learn more about the case against the Port of Seattle, Alaska and Delta for polluting the area around Sea-Tac Airport.

About Hagens Berman

Hagens Berman is a global plaintiffs’ rights complex litigation law firm with a tenacious drive for achieving real results for those harmed by corporate negligence and fraud. Since its founding in 1993, the firm’s determination has earned it numerous national accolades, awards and titles of “Most Feared Plaintiff’s Firm,” MVPs and Trailblazers of class-action law. More about the law firm and its successes can be found at www.hbsslaw.com. Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw.

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