schaumburg review 10 27 05 Court lifts O'Hare building injunction BY PATRICK CORCORAN STAFF WRITER Less than a month after an injunction stalled Chicago's O'Hare Modernization Project, the $15 billion airport expansion plan roared back to life Tuesday. A U.S. Court of Appeals judge in Washington D.C. ruled in favor of the city and the Federal Aviation Administration, dissolving the temporary stay filed Sept. 30 by Elk Grove Village, Bensenville and several religious rights organizations. Chicago officials said it means the construction of runways, the demolition of properties in Des Plaines and the acquisition of properties in Bensenville, Elk Grove and Des Plaines will resume. The ruling delighted city officials. "We have directed (contractors) to resume construction immediately because the sooner we resume construction, the sooner benefits to travelers and airlines across the nation can be realized," OMP Executive Director Rosemarie Andolino said in a statement. Elk Grove Mayor Craig Johnson said the ruling has no bearing on the village's continued opposition. "It's important to understand the decision has nothing to do with the merits of our case over this ill-advised, bad plan," he said. The temporary stay had centered on the massive public works project's funding sources and its impact on the 150-year-old St. Johannes cemetery. In order to complete the OMP, 1,300 bodies must be removed and relocated, according to Chicago officials. "The city has looked at every possible option and, believe me, if we could we would avoid relocating the cemetery. It's the last thing the city wants to do," said Roderick Drew, spokesman for the OMP. In its appeal, the city indicated that future construction would not infringe on the cemetery grounds until the appeals process was exhausted. Johnson said that pledge and a new cost-benefit analysis presented by the FAA helped sway the court. "They were very smart ... They took the cemeteries out of the equation, but it doesn't change anything. The process will continue," Johnson said. "We won the first round, they won this round, but we'll win the fight." The village will now request a stay from the Cook County Circuit Court and appeal its case at the federal level, Johnson said