Government ignoring O'Hare agreements

I couldn't help but laugh when I read Chicago Aviation Commissioner Ginger Evans' comment that planes departing from the sixth and final yet-to-be-constructed O'Hare runway would angle northwest over nonresidential areas and follow a route similar to a diagonal runway the city has refused to reopen.

It might be more believable if the city and the FAA weren't routinely in violation of the OMP's Environmental Impact Statement and their own commitments regarding runway utilization. The Environment Impact Statement, which was used for the approval of the project, identifies the utilization of Runway 9L over Elk Grove Village as 8.8 percent for daytime arrivals at full build-out and 5.4 percent while construction is progressing.

Using Chicago's own statistics, the average daytime runway utilization for 9L for 2015 was 12 percent, with several months hitting 18 percent. So, instead of having to endure the noise and air pollution of about 57 aircraft each day over Elk Grove Village during construction, we are subject to an average of 126, up to a maximum of 189 each day.

The current utilization even exceeds the full build-out numbers by over 36 percent. Yes, there is nothing to be believed in Ginger's comments. The city and the FAA will do whatever the city and the FAA want. There is no system in place, anywhere, to enforce any of the requirements and commitments used to win approval of the project.

Once again, government agencies do whatever they want whenever they want, and the public loses.

Alan Boffice

Elk Grove Village