O’Hare International Airport Permit Renewal
- Client: Chicago Department of Aviation
- Prime Consultant: T.Y. Lin International
About this Project
As part of a $6 billion capital investment plan to increase the airport’s capacity and decrease delays, the City of Chicago added four runways, lengthened two existing runways, and decommissioned two existing runways. Impervious surface was increased, watershed divides changed, and contaminated flows are now separated from clean stormwater flows. Because of these changes to the drainage system, the airport needed to reapply for a wastewater discharge permit, ensuring that the new system met EPA and Illinois EPA clean water standards. As part of this application, our team created a series of exhibits and performed analyses that showed the new drainage system.
To create a complete picture of the expanded drainage system, we first gathered data from a variety of sources. Working with our partner firm, T.Y. Lin, we were able to develop key data layers that presented all aspects of wastewater treatment at the airport. The resulting exhibits depicted the flow of wastewater accurately and demonstrated that the airport follows best management practices (BMPs) for control and recovery of deicing fluid—the most toxic pollutant at O’Hare.
Our exhibits were key to gaining the permit approval required for the airport’s expansion. Without the detailed spatial description that these maps provided, the application would not have been complete.
