Sea-Tac, Alaska Air and Delta accused in lawsuit of harming health in towns near airport

A potential class-action lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges that the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Alaska Air Group and Delta Air Lines are polluting King County towns within a 5-mile radius of the airport.

Consequences, the lawsuit alleges, include shorter life expectancy compared with other King County cities; premature births; over 100 excess deaths per year on average; and more deaths caused by cancer, heart disease and chronic lower respiratory disease. The suit was filed in King County Superior Court by Seattle-based Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro.

“When planes take off and land from Sea-Tac Airport, the jet fuel they burn spews pollutants into the atmosphere,” the suit states. “Particulate matter can also flake off from the bodies of the airplanes themselves during flight, further contaminating the surrounding environment.”

In a statement, a Port of Seattle spokesperson said the airport and its tenants “follow strict federal, state and local requirements as they relate to how operations impact environmental issues such as air quality and noise.”

The spokesperson said agencies that establish the requirements include the Federal Aviation Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, King County, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers and the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency.

Delta and Alaska did not immediately respond to inquiries.

Nearly 300,000 people live in the 5-mile radius noted in the suit, which includes Burien, Des Moines, SeaTac and Tukwila. More than half of residents represent racial or ethnic minorities including Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, according to the suit.

The pollution begins to accumulate where planes fly below 3,000 feet, emitting gases and heavy metals such as carbon monoxide and lead. There isn’t enough time for the wind to disperse the pollutants, according to the suit. Alaska and Delta are included, according to the suit, because the two airlines operate most of the flights in and out of the airport.

Seattle-Tacoma Airport had nearly 46 million passengers last year. It has 33 airlines connected to 92 nonstop domestic and 28 international destinations.

[Sea-Tac Airport’s new $1B international terminal too tight a squeeze for 20 big jets]

The law firm’s managing partner, Steve Berman, who is the lead on the case, said he is hoping for remediation from the Port of Seattle, which could include periodic cleaning, payments to residents or medical monitoring.

“We know the Port knows this,” Berman said in an interview. “They continue to pollute away, and in fact, are increasing their operations.”

The Port spokesperson said the airport goes “above and beyond regulatory requirements to voluntarily further eliminate emissions, reduce noise and protect habitat.”

The spokesperson said the airport has programs for sustainable aviation fuel and late-night noise limitation. The Port is also making annual updates to its environmental work programs, according to the spokesperson.

The lawsuit refers to two studies that highlight the effects on health of living close to an airport. A 2019 study from the University of Washington found communities on flight paths are exposed to air pollution by significant levels of ultrafine particles. These particles are so tiny they can penetrate the nervous system when inhaled, the UW study concluded.

Another study, by Public Health — Seattle & King County about the health of the Sea-Tac-area residents, reported similar findings. Public Health made recommendations including implementing “efforts to address the health disparities of airport communities” and strategies to reduce air and noise pollution from the airport.

The suit argues that instead of addressing the pollution, the Port of Seattle “forged ahead with the construction of a new International Arrivals Facility” that opened last year with plans to more than double international passenger capacity. The Port, Delta and Alaska were aware of the UW and Public Health studies, the suit stated.

Berman said that despite knowing the situation, the Port, Delta and Alaska did not act on it because the people living in those areas do not have a strong voice.

“If this was happening in Medina, this would’ve been stopped in a minute,” Berman said. “But the people in the Sea-Tac area are lower-income, have less clout, less political power, and so it’s easy to keep going in the name of the Port’s doing business.”