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CNN Live At Daybreak

O'Hare Expansion Plans Spark Controversy

Aired July 27, 2001 - 07:26   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: We want to move on now to a confrontation of another kind. This one in and around Chicago's O'Hare Airport.

Here is the dilemma: politicians and the public outraged over endless airline delays and cancellations there. But when cities try to expand local airports, they do run into roadblocks. Case in point is Chicago.

Our Jeff Flock is near O'Hare International Airport and joins us right now -- hi, Jeff.

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Colleen.

Indeed, one of the roadblocks is that people that live around O'Hare Airport say that it is already loud enough to wake the dead as a result of all of the jet noise. I guess this is the place to where you might test that. We are out perched not too far from the runways at O'Hare. I have a cemetery behind me, and as part of the airport expansion -- a proposed airport expansion, at least one cemetery would have to be relocated.

As you can see, we are out here early this morning, because this is when a lot of the planes come in. Perhaps right around this hour, the 6:00 a.m. local hour, it gets very busy here. And as you report, there is a serious bottleneck at O'Hare -- oftentimes too much traffic and not enough apparently runways, according to some.

The mayor has come up with a plan to try and expand the airport by adding runways, reconfiguring others to try and alleviate that bottleneck. But the people -- many of the people that live around the airport are very much opposed to that, because of the noise, and because some additional area would have to be annexed. Some homes would have to be knocked down. Literally hundreds of homes in the town of Bensenville, and people don't seem to like that.

What are the other alternatives? Well, opponents to expanding O'Hare say that building another -- a third Chicago airport in addition to O'Hare and Midway -- would be the answer, far out from the city. But there is considerable controversy over that, and now the federal government getting involved. Several U.S. senators holding hearings on this topic saying something has to be done at O'Hare. The only option is to do nothing. Throughout this day on CNN, we will be examining this issue of O'Hare expansion. Is it a good idea or not. Perhaps a lot of you have been on the runways at O'Hare sitting, waiting. We'll see what we can do about that.

That's the latest from here just outside O'Hare Airport in Chicago.

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