Suburbs Near O'Hare Want New Jet Noise Studies
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Suburbs west of O'Hare International Airport have placed a question on the November ballot, asking voters whether something needs to be done about the rise in jet noise.
WBBM Newsradio's Mike Krauser reports, just like Chicago residents to the east of O'Hare, suburban communities to the west – including Bensenville, Itasca, and Wood Dale – have said more needs to be done about the noise from planes using a newly finished east-west runway.
Questions being put to voters in November include whether the Federal Aviation Administration – which dramatically under-reported the number of flights that would use the new runway in its initial environmental impact study – should be required to revisit noise and air pollution issues related to the expansion of the airport.
Itasca Village President Jeff Pruyn said he's been hearing lots of complaints from his residents.
"They've lived here for 40 years, and they knew they were by an airport, but until late Fall and early Spring, they have never really experienced the type of air traffic noise that they have recently," Pruyn said.
There has been a steadily growing chorus of complaints about jet noise since the opening of a new east-west runway in October, sending hundreds of flights a day over a narrow corridor.
"They're basically cramming more flights into fewer runways than they had envisioned at the time they did their study," Pruyn said.
While they're looking to put pressure on the FAA, activists involved in the issue said it really falls on the city of Chicago, which runs the airport.