BENSENVILLE, Ill. (WBBM) -- The village of Bensenville is preparing to make an 11th hour plea to stop the expansion of O'Hare International Airport and the demolition of hundreds of homes as a judge prepares to make a critical ruling on the airport project.
A Dupage County judge is expected to rule on the case Thursday and could lift a year long public health injunction that has blocked the city of Chicago from bulldozing more than 500 properties in Bensenville.
The homes and commercial buildings stand in the way of a proposed southern runway at the Northwest Side airport. Both Bensenville and Elk Grove Village officials have been fighting O'Hare expansion for decades.
Bensenville officials are expected to demand Mayor Daley hold-off on tearing down buildings in their community, in what they describe as the next “Meigs Field” -- until he can prove the airport project is funded.
Bensenville attorney Joe Karaganis says so far the expansion of O’Hare has been built on “other people’s money” suggesting financial support from the government and airlines is drying up. Karaganis says the legal battle over airport expansion will continue whatever the outcome of Thursday’s court ruling.
An injunction was slapped on the city by the courts until it conducted environmental testing on the property it intends to tear down.
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