Environmentalists and Middle River residents are suing the developers behind a sprawling project at a World War II-era manufacturing plant near Martin State Airport, saying that the construction has driven sediment, possibly carried unearthed pollutants, into the Chesapeake Bay.

Developers with New York-based Reich Brothers bought the old Martin Aircraft site in Middle River four years ago for $52.5 million. They’re pursuing plans to turn the old plant into a logistics hub and convert other parts of the site into a mix of industrial, office and commercial space, including a Walmart Supercenter, calling the project Aviation Station.

But, according to a complaint filed Thursday in a Baltimore County Circuit Court by Middle River residents and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, construction grading on the 53-acre property has stirred up harmful dust and driven sediment pollution across Eastern Boulevard into tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay.

The complaint was filed against Eastern Boulevard, a Reich Brothers affiliate, and Missouri-based TKG III Middle River.

The former manufacturing site, used to build B-26 Marauder bombers, a U.S. military workhorse during World War II, has historically been laden with metals and harmful chemicals. Plaintiffs argue that the developers failed to take sufficient precautions to prevent pollutants from contaminating nearby waterways and harming neighboring communities.

“Progress shouldn’t require destroying something to make it better,” Paul Treash, a Middle River resident of two decades, said in a statement Friday announcing the lawsuit. “The pollution and runoff this development has caused, and lack of oversight and transparency, needs a solution for the sake of our community, our environment, and our wildlife.”

Reich Brothers co-CEO Adam Reich said in an email that the Middle River project is subject to many layers of regulatory oversight and has drawn “overwhelming” support from the community. The developers received county and state permits for all of their work, and Reich said the complaint doesn’t allege any violations.

“Aviation Station is a premier example of how successful brownfield redevelopment can breathe new life into communities,” he said. “We will respond appropriately to this lawsuit in court, and we are confident in our position.”

While the developers have receive permits from Maryland and Baltimore County regulators, the plaintiffs point to omissions in their construction approvals. County permit applications, for instance, ignore legal requirements for a plan to manage stormwater, while the developer has failed to institute proper controls against erosion and sediment run-off, according to the complaint.

Portions of the property also fall within the Chesapeake Bay’s “critical area” buffer — within 1,000 feet of the water — a fact the complaint says also is ignored in county permit applications.

A Baltimore County spokesperson did not answer questions Monday about the developer’s permit. A spokesperson for the Maryland Department of the Environment declined to comment.

Environmental issues at the old manufacturing grounds, just north of Martin State Airport and near the Middle River and Frog Mortar Creek, date back generations, and community members behind the complaint argued that they have been disproportionately impacted for decades. Much of the community earns below-average incomes, while 30% live below the federal poverty line, according to the complaint, whose plaintiffs include residents of a nearby trailer park.

First established in 1929 by the Glenn L. Martin Company, a predecessor to the aerospace giant Lockheed Martin, the site, which then included the airfield, employed some 50,000 factory workers at its height in World War II.

Investigations beginning in the 1990s uncovered a litany of contaminants on the site, from corroded drums of paint to hazardous chemicals and mercury in the groundwater.

The U.S. Department of Defense also flagged the former military manufacturing site for containing “forever chemicals” at concentrations exceeding federal safety standards — hazards the plaintiffs say have been ignored during the construction grading.

Meanwhile, the plaintiffs say, metals, sediment and nutrient pollution through the years have impaired the Middle River, which flows into the Chesapeake Bay.

Developers have looked to revitalize the area around the Martin State Airport for years.

Owings Mills-based Blue Ocean Realty purchased the brownfield site in 2019 and planned to invest tens of millions of dollars in an effort to build mixed-use project with housing and retail. But the developer abandoned its plans and sold the property to Reich Brothers two years later — to the great disappointment of some local officials.

Kathleen Gagnon, a litigation fellow for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, said in a statement that the Aviation Station project shouldn’t move forward without tighter pollution controls and relief for its neighbors.

“This site has a long history of toxic uses, yet there is no evidence based on the approvals the developer has received thus far that potential contamination has even been considered,” Gagnon said.