Chicago officials on Tuesday ordered runway construction to resume at O’Hare International Airport after an appeals court ruled that opponents of the project failed to prove they would suffer irreparable harm.
The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia lifted an administrative order issued hours after the Federal Aviation Administration approved the almost $15 billion O’Hare expansion plan on Sept. 30. The order put the FAA approval on hold and halted construction until now.
The court also denied opponents’ request for an emergency order postponing construction while appeals seeking to stop the project permanently go through the courts.
“It’s great news,” said Mayor Richard Daley, who was in Washington to meet with federal officials on other issues when he got the news about O’Hare.
He said a long delay would have created additional construction costs, adding, “Now we can move ahead as quickly as possible.”
Attorneys for Chicago had argued that halting O’Hare expansion costs Chicago an extra $6.1 million per month in construction expenses.
Construction on the first runway will resume Thursday, and the city will move forward immediately to buy homes and businesses needed to make room for the expansion, said Rosemarie Andolino, executive director of the O’Hare Modernization Program.
Despite the jubilation of Chicago officials, the legal battle appeared far from over.
The appeals process will continue on behalf of Bensenville, Elk Grove Village and a Christian cemetery that sits in the path of a planned runway.
O’Hare expansion opponents said they also planned to file a separate suit in U.S. District Court in Chicago. That suit will focus mainly on FAA funding issues, Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson said. The case before the D.C. court focuses mainly on 1st Amendment issues.
O’Hare opponents believe the city’s plan to relocate 1,300 graves in St. Johannes Cemetery violate a federal law aimed at protecting religious freedom. Moving remains from the cemetery, which was established in 1837 when the O’Hare site was a fruit orchard, could prevent “the physical resurrection” of their bodies, attorneys representing the opponents said in legal filings.
The opponents also argued that airport officials shouldn’t be allowed to destroy property without first proving the city can pay for all of the expansion work.
The FAA said recently in court papers that it plans to approve Chicago’s request for $300 million in federal funds for the first phase of expansion.
But it remains uncertain whether the city, the struggling airline industry and airport investors can finance their parts of the $14.7 billion project.
In allowing airfield construction to move forward, the three appeals court judges said in their ruling that they were relying on the city’s promise not to disturb graves at St. Johannes until the court has a chance to rule on the case.
The opponents had argued that such assurances were hollow given the city’s controversial decision to bulldoze Meigs Field in the middle of the night two years ago.
But Tuesday’s ruling clears the way for Chicago to use quick-take powers authorized by the General Assembly to condemn homes and businesses on about 400 acres in Bensenville and Elk Grove Village.
Bensenville Village President John Geils called an emergency meeting of the Village Board Tuesday night to review the community’s options.
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Geils said he was disappointed by the ruling but hoped that a federal judge in Chicago would see the merits of the opponents’ argument.
In the meantime, Geils called on Chicago officials to show some restraint in taking properties.
“I don’t want to see the destruction of our community when they can’t build the project,” Geils said.
Attorneys for Bensenville and Elk Grove Village will attempt to persuade the U.S. District Court in Chicago to stop the condemnation of homes pending the appeal.
Meanwhile, religious groups and family members of relatives buried in St. Johannes said Tuesday’s ruling does not undermine the validity of their claims.
“It is not per se a nail in the coffin, with respect to the cemetery’s case,” said Jared Leland, media and legal counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a Washington non-profit organization working on the case.
Because Chicago has promised not to touch the cemetery pending final court action, the city has, in effect, placed legal restrictions on itself, he said.
“The order ultimately requires the City of Chicago to stand by its word that it will not touch, desecrate or destroy the cemetery until the issues can be fully addressed in court,” Leland said.
While the future remained unclear for affected businesses in Bensenville and Elk Grove Village, Chicago business leaders hailed Tuesday’s decision by the appeals court as a huge step forward.
“Getting rid of the flight delays at O’Hare for at least the near term has a lot to do with Chicago’s future as a business center,” said R. Eden Martin, president of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
“This is not the end of the exercise, but I am celebrating today.”
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