Pacoima & Whiteman Airport: A History of Harm

For over 7000 years, they cared for and inhabited the land, naming the town "Pacoinga" in their native language. In 1797, Spanish colonizers came up from Mexico and established the San Fernando Mission, beginning the massive displacement and abuse of Natives in Pacoima.

Map displays indigenous territories that intersect with the land that Pacoima now presides on. Data from native-lands.ca and tataviam-nsn.us.

One Native resident, Rogerio Rocha, who retained some of his native land, was forcibly evicted off of his own property by Charles Maclay, one of Pacoima's earliest land investors. His story is just one of many in the brutal displacement of Native peoples from Pacoima.

Redlining meant that potential developers and homeowners who sought loans to invest in the area were barred from federal loans and that the government officially advised against investing in the area at all.

Slide the bar left and right to see present day Pacoima and the original redlining map produced by the Federal Housing Administration. Whiteman Airport is displayed in gray.

“This is a Mexican settlement... Mexican farm laborers moved in and occupied the old residences and today goats graze in the streets and cactus plants are greatly in evidence. The area has no residential significance and is merely set up as a matter of record.” - Federal Home Owner's Loan Corporation (HOLC)

The railroad along San Fernando boulevard unofficially divided Pacoima between upper-income White neighborhoods (to the West) and lower-income Black, Latino, and other communities of color (to the East), including the redlined tract.

Other areas in the Valley, such as Lake View Terrace-Sunland and Burbank, remained unsafe for Black residents of Pacoima to enter. This photo depicts the KKK parading down Van Nuys Blvd in 1966.

Founded by Marvin E. Whiteman originally as a private storage facility and then opening as a private airport, it primarily served Hollywood stars in storing their planes, filming movies, and providing a venue for entertainment, including a pool.

The conclude that:

"ANY AIRPORT IN A DENSLEY POPULATED AREA IS OUT OF PLACE, reflecting the lack of care for Pacoima community members in the establishment of an airport land use in the neighborhood."

Swipe to read the group's 8 reasons for halting operations at Whiteman Airport.

This purchase also made the airport eligible for future local, state, and federal funding. However, the surrounding community does not see any parallel investment in their safety or wellbeing.

Similarly, Santa Monica Airport, an airport that is set to be shut down in 2028 due to similar concerns, is also surrounded by a high number of residences.

There are 16 schools and 512 residential parcels located within 1 mile of the airport, exposing thousands of students and community members to emissions and the dangers of crashes.

Pacoima residents face high risks of danger from pollution and crashes from Whiteman Airport because of planning that did not value the livelihood of its residents.

Lead is banned in all fuels except for avgas, which is used in small recreational planes like those at Whiteman Airport. Lead is associated with a variety of dangerous health impacts, from

Children living downwind of the recreational airport Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose, CA had .40 micrograms per deciliter increase of lead in their blood compared to those children who lived upwind. Lead exposure is associated with anemia, weakness, kidney and brain damage, and reproductive issues/birth defects, especially when exposed as a child.

Research from Santa Monica Airport shows similar results. Studies found that plane take-offs injected significant and dangerous amounts of ultrafine particulate matter into the air, which contributes to a number of health concerns including asthma, which also increases individuals' likelihood of severe COVID-19 illness.

Recreational airplanes are poisoning Pacoima.

Noise pollution from aircraft takeoffs greatly impacts the quality of life of Pacoima residents living near the airport.

There are an average of 315 take-offs per day at Whiteman Airport. Noise pollution from these take-offs can impact residents even throughout the night.

Noise pollution negatively impacts stress, sleep, mental health, blood pressure, and more.

Click "Unmute Background Audio" to experience the noise pollution that Pacoima residents face on a daily basis.