7 years after problem came to light, City of Chicago has replaced few smelly soundproof windows
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A resident of Chicago's Southwest Side recently reached out with an issue CBS News Chicago covered extensively seven years ago.
Nasty odors were coming from windows near both Chicago airports. The windows were installed by the city to soundproof homes, but were later deemed to be defective.
Thousands of homeowners were in the same boat with this problem. Back in 2017, the city promised to replace the smelly windows after the CBS News Chicago Investigators exposed the issue.
But it turns out that all these years later, just a tiny fraction of the windows in question have been replaced.
A promise made by the Department of Aviation in 2017
Many residents who lived near O'Hare and Midway international airports had soundproof windows installed by the city at their homes two decades ago.
Back in 2017, CBS 2 Investigator Pam Zekman extensively covered the problem with the soundproof windows. The frames for the windows were made of polyvinyl chloride, a known carcinogen.
"It's like a burning smell," Donica Bradford, who lives near Midway, told Zekman in July 2017. "It's overpowering at certain times of the day."
More residents started complaining after Zekman's first reports, including Donna Eilers.
"I saw Channel 2's report, and I said: 'That's the smell we have. That's what's going on,'" Eilers said in 2017.
The city held hearings that year—including one where a city Department of Aviation executive promised to replace windows in each home where an order was confirmed by department staff.
7 years later, woman says windows are still making her sick
Seven years later, in 2024, Shirley Bakalik-Lilley is still complaining about a foul smell coming from her windows.
Bakalik-Lilley lives so close to Midway International Airport that she can see the air traffic control tower out her window—and she had the soundproof windows installed just like her neighbors so many years back.
"A little bit like of a turpentine smell, and it makes you a little bit nauseous," Bakalik-Lilley said.
Bakalik-Lilley has written confirmation from the city of her home's odor in 2021. This year, she even added to her paper trail—with a signed form from her doctor declaring the odor an "extreme health and medical hardship."
She said both she and her doctor are worried her windows are making her sick.
"Is it causing a cancer?" Bakalik-Lilley said. "Are they going to be honest with you and tell you that?"
The city maintains that the smelly odor is non-toxic. In a statement, the city said, "Independent laboratory testing by an industrial hygiene firm has confirmed that the odor and windows pose no health risks."
Still, the city has provided residents with a form to be filled out by a doctor to certify if medical conditions are exacerbated by the odor.
Every quarter, the city Department of Aviation sends Bakalik-Lilley an update, on the grounds that her home "has a confirmed offensive odor."
Some were even signed by Aaron J. Frame, the same Deputy Commissioner for the Department of Aviation who issued the promise to replace the residents' windows seven years ago.
What the city has not done is fixed Bakalik-Lilley's windows.
Thousands of homes eligible for odor mitigation, less than 150 windows replaced
CBS News Chicago went through Bakalik-Lilley's meticulous documentation. Between O'Hare and Midway, 22,204 had soundproof windows installed.
As of September, 1,030 homes near O'Hare and 1,259 homes near Midway were eligible for odor mitigation—dramatically more than just a few years ago.
But also as of September, only 148 windows had been replaced. Most of the windows that did get replaced had mechanical issues as well.
"They want everyone to forget about it," Bakalik-Lilley said. "What are they doing at these quarterly meetings? Ordering more doughnuts and more coffee for the next meeting."
Bakalik-Lilley's husband died during the battle, so the 70-year-old woman is now fighting it alone.
She keeps some shades closed all the time, while in other rooms, a plastic film covers the windows—all in an attempt to keep the smell away.
"They don't even have a plan on this. None whatsoever," Bakalik-Lilley said. "So, you know, I don't see any work getting done on any of the houses that Pam Zekman originally found the odors on. None of them have been worked on."
The city does actually have a plan, which is documented on a complex flow chart labeled, "Odor Mitigation Process." But if one drills down, the flow chart shows construction will not be complete until 2026—and that is just for about 700 homes.
Again, there are thousands in the program with validated complaints.
"I want my new windows to just be replaced before I die," Bakalik-Lilley said. "You know, is it that bad to come in here and get this done?"
Funding and the COVID pandemic are the simple answers given to the complex question of why it is taking so long to replace the windows.
Again, the city maintains that the smell emanating from the windows is non-toxic and is not a health hazard.