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21 DePaul L. Rev. 207 (1971-1972)
Environmental Law - Chicago's Third Municipal Airport - A Proposed Course of Action for Its Prevention

handle is hein.journals/deplr21 and id is 219 raw text is: COMMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW-CHICAGO'S THIRD MUNICIPAL
AIRPORT-A PROPOSED COURSE OF ACTION
FOR ITS PREVENTION
INTRODUCTION
The vast metropolitan area of Chicago is presently served by two ma-
jor airports-O'Hare International and Midway. Although it was once
thought that these two facilities would be more than adequate to service
the air traffic of Chicago, today, the prevailing view is that the nation's
second largest city is in need of a third major airport. Why does Chicago
need a new airport? The explanation is not very simple. In days past,
it was a relatively easy matter to find a meadow far enough from any
structures to be safe, and level enough to be comfortable for landing and
take-off, but as aircraft grew more sophisticated, so, necessarily, did the
attendant support-facilities and services. Consequently we progressed
from the propellor to the jet; from the grassy knoll to asphalt and con-
crete pavements, continuous and uninterrupted for eight to twelve-thou-
sand feet in length. Technology seems to know no bounds and as a re-
sult, nearly all of the worlds terminal airports have one thing in common.
They were either obsolete or inadequate on their dedication day.' This
statement is supported by a myriad of statistics, all of which lead to the
conclusion that air travel is increasing at a tremendous pace. Past pre-
dictions as to the volume of passengers, the number of aircraft re-
quired to transport them, and the size and number of the airports neces-
sary to accommodate the air traffic were unfortunately much too inaccu-
rate.
An examination of available statistics reveals the growing disparity
in the types of travel utilized. For the year 1968 the number of pas-
sengers traveling via railroad exceeded 21 million; the number of motor
traffic passengers for the same year was 80,414,200, while the num-
ber of air-traffic passengers was 183,242,000,000.2 During this same
period the average number of kilometers flown was 2,950,753,000.3 It
1. Donoghue, Planning and Financing Chicago's Municipal Airports, 23 J. AiR
L. & COM. 34 (1956).
2. 1970 BRITANNICA BOOK OF THE YEAR 753 (1970).
3. Id.
207

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