AN ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF THE I-190 CORRIDOR AND AREAS SUPPORTING THE CHICAGO-O’HARE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Concerned about Chicago’s Midway Airport growing to capacity in the early 1940s, the City of Chicago opened the Chicago-O’Hare International Airport in 1955. To link the City of Chicago with its new airport, the City of Chicago annexed roughly five miles of road, creating the controversial “O’Hare corridor.” This corridor once again became a focal point of controversy in 1999 when the Illinois Department of Transportation proposed a major reconstruction of I-190, located within the corridor, to alleviate the ever-increasing traffic demands to the Chicago-O’Hare International Airport. The proposed project would also support the City of Chicago’s $ 3.7 billion World Gateway program. This Chicago Department of Aviation program proposes the reconfiguration of existing terminals, the addition of two new terminals, and the redevelopment of areas supporting the airport, including the rental car areas, long term parking lots, and the former O’Hare Air Reserve Forces Facility.

The Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS) conducted a Preliminary Environmental Site Assessment (PESA) of potential hazardous sites along I-190, its various interchanges, and roads servicing the Chicago-O’Hare International Airport in the communities of Des Plaines, Park Ridge, Rosemont, Schiller Park, and the City of Chicago. The PESA included the investigation of more than 40 sites, including a CERCLIS site, disposal sites, LUST and UST sites, and industrial parks, as well as operations supporting O’Hare Airport itself. Due to the complexity of this PESA and its proximity to a major airport, several unusual features had to be simultaneously investigated, including potential hazards associated with massive jet fuel spills, Federal Aviation Administration navigation aids, rapid transit systems, military installations, and the O’Hare Airport itself. The ISGS concluded that due to the rapid expansion and redevelopment of the I-190 corridor and the Chicago-O’Hare International Airport between 1955 and the late 1990s, significant, previously undocumented, levels of contaminations had impacted the proposed project area.