Court Blocks Relocation Of Cemetery For O'Hare
BENSENVILLE, Ill. (CBS) - The Illinois Supreme Court has issued a roadblock to the expansion of O'Hare International Airport, by temporarily blocking the removal of bodies from graves in a cemetery in the path of the work.
Permits had been granted to start moving the first of 300 bodies from St. Johannes Cemetery in Bensenville Thursday.
DuPage County Judge Hollis Webster had ruled last year that the city could transfer the 900 graves from the 6.3-acre St. Johannes Cemetery, which is owned by St. John's United Church of Christ.
But the State Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that no bodies can be moved, pending another hearing.
Last month, the City Council approved a plan to issue $1 billion in new bonds for the O'Hare Modernization Project, which is still less than halfway done.
The project has calls for building one new runway, extending another runway and relocating a third. A new northern runway opened in November 2008, and about 500 former homes and businesses in west suburban Bensenville are being demolished to make way for the expanded airport.
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