Judge halts demolition activities at O'Hare

It doesn't take a bulldozer to mow a lawn, according to Judge Kenneth Popejoy.

The DuPage County judge delivered that message to Chicago attorneys Friday in clarifying a restraining order on demolition activities in the Bensenville portion of the O'Hare International Airport expansion zone. Popejoy wants environmental testing performed on the parcels in question before the soil is disturbed.

To that end, Popejoy told Chicago officials they crossed the line by using heavy construction equipment for tree trimming and removal Thursday morning.

"Obviously that heavy equipment has disrupted the soil, has disrupted the asphalt," Popejoy said after viewing photos of the work. "This is beyond the scope of what I ordered."

He then banned the use of "heavy equipment or anything that can cause an adverse impact on a structure." The order nixes the planned construction of fences, but allows "normal vegetative maintenance" and basic repairs, such as the boarding up of broken windows.

Popejoy also told Bensenville and Chicago lawyers to use common sense in the future.

"The main goal I have today is to see if I can avoid daily visits from you until the (environmental) testing is done," Popejoy said. "I didn't want to put a prophylactic over the entire area and have nobody touch it."

Afterward, Bensenville attorney Joseph Karaganis said he hopes Popejoy's ruling causes Chicago to "make up its mind to follow the rule of law" from now on. He again emphasized that ongoing legal battles at the federal level and stalls in funding mean O'Hare expansion isn't a done deal.

Chicago attorney Jamie Rhee disagreed. She said O'Hare will host a ribbon cutting for the new northern runway, a new control tower and other completed expansion projects on Nov. 20, 2008.