They already know they're going to make it a major cargo airport. Cynthia Stewart, KCIA's manager, says the new construction is simply part of modernizing an airport largely built in the '70s. Stinky Air Georgetown is a very toxic place. Planes are constantly burning and dumping fuel on the neighborhood. Eighteen-wheelers barrel down residential streets.
Industries spew out strange chemicals.
The Duwamish River is filled with poisoned fish. The nastiness pushed real estate agent and long-time Georgetown resident Lorna Dove to become the neighborhood's main advocate for environmental justice. In 1995, she started looking for funding to conduct air, noise, and soil tests. Since then, she's devoted extensive hours toward researching and measuring chemicals like benzene and toluene, byproducts of jet fuel and plane exhaust. More recently, Dove and her neighbor Tim O'Brien have become concerned about the possible toxic effects of a nearby industrial plant.