Opposition
Other wind or solar projects nearby that encountered opposition
Facebook pages or websites organizing opposition:
- Will County G.O.P. Uncensored - Supports conservatives, found some old posts on opposing solar and clean energy
In the News
News articles or letters to the editor expressing wind or solar opposition (or support):
- John Hawkins in Illinois Times [Opposed]
- Michelle Knox – Letter to the Editor [Supported]
- Michelle Knox – Letter to the Editor [Supported]
- Jack Heller – Letter to the Editor [Opposed]
- Candy Anderson – Letter to the Editor [Opposed]
- Betsy Busch [Supported]
Problems discussed:
- Pacifism – “It’s arrogant to think that climate change can be stopped … it’s cyclic and happening for billions of years”
- Farmland is converted to industrial space
- Solar farms should only be allowed on less productive plots of land rather than prime land
- Recycling solar panels will cause pollution
The Airport
Overview
The South Suburban Airport(SSA) is proposed for the site of Bult Field, an existing airport operating at 28261 S. Kedzie Ave., Monee. The state has spent about $100 million since 2002 to acquire more than 4,500 acres for the airport, and land acquisition is 90% complete.
This airport is referred to as both the South Suburban Airport and the Peotone Airport, and its purpose is talked about as a cargo airport for businesses like Amazon, and/or as a passenger airport meant to relieve some of the traffic from O’Hare.
Political will seems to have been the biggest hurdle to completion, with current proponents citing lack of support from MayorLightfoot and Governor Pritzker.
U.S. Representative Robin Kelly has been working at getting the airport built since at least 2013. Her senior staffer isRick Bryant, and he has been quite visible in the last three years.
Judy Ogalla, current and recently re-elected Will County Supervisor, is the vice-president of the anti-airport development group Shut This Airport Nightmare Down (STAND). She has been against the airport for more than 20 years. (Chicago Tribune, 5/31/2022) She also serves on the Land Use and Development Committee. She owns and farms land that falls within the proposed airport site.
This document has three main sections:
1. Official FAA and SSA information channels
2. Timeline andActions of Electeds’ Involvement
3. Groups and Individuals Pro and Con
Official FAA and SSA Information Channels
August 2022
FAA website info on project, which was last updated August 3, 2022:
The State of Illinois continues to work on plans for the potential establishment of a proposed South Suburban Airport (SSA) . . . Based on FAA site approval granted in 2002, theState has been acquiring land to preserve the option of developing an inaugural airport (over 4,000 acres to date). The State is focused on initial establishment of an inaugural airport with the capability to expand to accommodate future market demand.
The state is currently evaluating the most appropriate method for developing, financing and operating the proposed airport. Once that is completed, Master Plan and Tier II Environmental Impact Statement activities may resume.
June 2022
6/26/2022 A brief interview with IDOT Information Officer Maria Casteneda revealed that there is no timetable for completing land acquisitions, and that IDOT continues to evaluate the need for the project and how it will be used. IDOT contracted to have a study on I-57improvements needed to meet 2050 travel demand given the potential large industrial and future airport uses.
2016-2019 Illinois Department ofTransportation - South Suburban Airport Project website
- Website includes the most recent Master Plan documents and status.
- The most recent news release on the SSA website is from October 2016, announcing the submittal of the SSA Revised Draft Facilities Implementation Plan.
- Land Acquisition Status Map: Status Map.pdf (southsuburbanairport.com)
Current as of 2019.
Timeline and Actions of Electeds Involved
November 2022
State Representative Will Davis (D-Homewood) introduced HB 5810 in September to the General Assembly. It would amend a 2013 act, changing the word “may” to “will”, in an attempt to get the governor to move forward with the airport. The bill went to the House Rules Committee on November 16, 2022. This usually means it will get scheduled for a vote.
September 2022
9/23/2022 Chicago Tribune, story covering Rep Davis’s support of the airport:
“We’re trying to force, if I can say it that way, force the administration, the Department of Transportation, to put an RFQ out there so that this group or any other group that is willing to can step up to the plate and try to help us get this project finally done,” Davis told a Chicago Southland Economic Development Corporation forum in Richton Park.
Airport opponents over the years often have cited the lack of a private development partner as one reason the state should not move forward . . .
Davis said he and other airport supporters met with investors who want to publicly reveal their interest in the project, though he did not identify them.
Lawmakers authorized more than $200 million in spending on infrastructure for the airport through Pritzker’s Rebuild Illinois program. The state earlier this year selected an engineering firm to design improvements. But overall, Southland officials have been disappointed by Pritzker’s apparent lack of support for the airport.
April 2022
4/21/2022, Will Township Annual Meeting
Will Township Town Supervisor Brian Cann has spoken against the airport since at least 2010, and did so again at the annual meeting. His objections were “4,400 acres off the tax rolls” and noted that the “commotion” over the airport had quieted down. Cann said that County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant did not see the airport as a high priority in Springfield or Joliet, and that the property would be developed if it were not used for the airport.
2021
November 2021
11/19/2021 Chicago Tribune article on South Suburban Economic “boosters” meeting to urge Gov. Pritzker to support the airport. It was a teleconference hosted by the Chicago Southland Economic Development Corporation, and came about because of the October letter the Governor received (see 10/5 below). Some of the talking points:
- Amazon “and others” are using the Rockford airport as a cargo hub
- Concern that Amazon’s air cargo business will move to Gary, Indiana, losing business for IL
- Gary has a single runway and no way to expand; proponents say Amazon “and others” want a multiple runway site
October 2021
10/5/2021 Regional electeds sent a letter to Gov. Pritzker. The following electeds signed on to the letter:
· State Rep. Anthony DeLuca, D-Chicago Heights Author
· State Sen. Michael Hastings, D-Frankfort
· State Sen. Napoleon Harris, D-Harvey
· State Sen. Patrick Joyce, D-Essex
· State Rep. Kelly Burke, D-Evergreen Park
· State Rep. Will Davis, D-Homewood
· State Rep. Debbie Meyers-Martin, D-Olympia Fields
· State Rep. Bob Rita, D-Blue Island
· State Rep. Nicholas Smith, D-Chicago
In the letter, lawmakers criticized Pritzker for
· hiring consultants to study alternate uses for the nearly 5,000 acres the state spent about $100 million to acquire
· eliminating engineering funding for a proposed interchange to serve the airport from the Illinois Department of Transportation’s five-year plan
April 2021
4/30/2021, Chicago Tribune article Amazon grow this driving demand for a third Chicago airport near Peotone, officials say.
Rick Bryant, senior aide to U.S. RepRobin Kelly, said the South Suburban Airport could be up and running by 2027.
“There are probably two or three years’ worth of bureaucratic approvals that still need to be done,” he said. “The environmental review has to be updated. The engineering work has to be completed. Then the state has to enter into an agreement with private developers to finance the project.”
Once final approval is obtained, it would likely take about three years to build the airport, he said.
2020
February 2020
2/7/2020 Chicago Tribune reporting on the meeting of the South Suburban Mayors Association
Lawmakers noted how the state last year allocated $162 million in the 2020 budget for a new Interstate 57 interchange and utility improvements to serve the proposed South Suburban Airport near Peotone and Monee.
“It’s been a long time in the making,”said state Rep. Debbie Meyers-Martin, D-Olympia Fields. “We know it will be an economic boom for the Southland.”
The proposed airport has been a controversial topic for more than 30 years. . .
There is a renewed sense of urgency to move forward with the project, said Rick Bryant, senior aide to U.S. Rep. RobinKelly, D-Matteson . . .
The airport would increase air travel and cargo shipment capacity in northeastern Illinois and create jobs and private investment that would generate new tax revenue, he said.
Officials hosting the event welcomed representatives of Gov. J.B. Pritzker and noted that Pritzker is more engaged in efforts to revitalize the region’s economy than his predecessor.
2/16/2020 Chicago TribuneOpinion column
The column stated that supporters of the airport met with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, along with state Rep. Will Davis and others. The meeting was “very encouraging”.
“She said she wants to work with us. We’re not trying to compete with Chicago, we’re trying to complement Chicago.”
A desire to protect financial interests associated with Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway airports has long been perceived as a roadblock . . .applicants have obtained about 90% of approvals needed from the Federal Aviation Administration.
House Speaker Michael Madigan has expressed support in writing for the project. Representatives of labor unions, including International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150, support the airport, Bryant said.
2017 Press release: U.S.Rep. Kelly and 30 other electeds wrote to then-Governor Rauner to try to move the project along. Rauner did not support the project. Local Leaders Express Strong Support for South Suburban Airport | Congresswoman Robin Kelly(house.gov)
Individuals andGroups For and Against the Airport
For:
Chicago Ald. David Moore(17th) (statement at an event on 6/30/2020)
State Rep. Debbie Meyers-Martin(D) 38th District (source above)
State House Speaker Michael Madigan
U.S. Congresswoman Robin Kelly,
State Rep. Mary Flowers,
Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller,
Mayor Sheila Chalmers-Currin(Matteson),
Mayor Vernard Alsberry(Hazel Crest),
Joseph E. Roudez III (University Park)
ChasityWells-Armstrong (Kankakee),
Metropolitan Wate rReclamation District Commissioner Kim Dubuclet,
CSEDC Executive Director Reggie Greenwood
International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150
Against:
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is not supportive, despite a direct request from Rep. Kelly. Political consultant Delmarie Cobb sees Lightfoot as the biggest barrier to getting the airport built.
David Griesing, President and CEO of Better Government Association, a government watchdog organization. His 6/25/2020 opinion piece is unnecessary and that Amazon has not shown an interest in the airport.
Shut This Airport NightmareDown (STAND)–a group formed 20 years ago and still active. 5/10/2019 Chicago Tribune
- George Ochsenfeld is president of STAND. He believes the airport is “politically driven” and not “market or transportation driven”. He also cites removal of privately owned land from the property tax rolls, and pollutants from air traffic as negative impacts.
Ochsenfeld was interviewed on WTTW in 2019 alongside political consultant Delmarie Cobb. The topic of cargo wasn’t really addressed–they spoke mostly of passenger flights. Ochsenfeld contends that no developers have signed on because they don’t believe in the project.
- Will County Board Member Judy Ogalla is Vice-President of the group. She is quoted in 2018 as saying:
"As far as being on the county board, for the last two or three years, the conversation has changed," said Ogalla . . . "That's from years and years of having a conversation and talking to people who were in the room at Bult Field when Pat Quinn was there, now actually understand why the people living in Peotone don't support the airport."~ The Daily Journal,1/29/2019
- Anthony Rayson, co-founder of STAND.
Will Township Town Supervisor BrianCann
Will County Farm Bureau andWill/South Cook Soil & Water Conservation District have formed an alliance
Iroquois Valley FarmlandREIT joined the allianceand signed on to a letter to the editorof the Chicago Tribune opposing the airport project.
National Taxpayers United ofIllinois, President Jim Tobin speaking against. Not very active recently.
