The City of Chicago cleared another...

The City of Chicago cleared another legal hurdle Friday in its attempts to demolish a Bensenville burial-ground that stands in the way of the planned O'Hare Airport expansion throw out

A federal appeals court in Washington, DC dismissed a lawsuit filed at attorneys for two suburban villages and the possessors of St. Johannes Cemetery, which lies in the path of the same of four new runways at O'Hare.

St John's United house of worship of Christ, along with officials from Bensenville and moose Grove Village, contend that the Federal Aviation Administration should not have approved the airport expansion plan because razing the god's acre would be a violation of a federal law protecting religious freedom.

yet the court, in its 2-1 decision, essentially gave the FAA a pass because of its "peripheral" part in the city's plan to relocate more than 1000 graves at St Johannes.

ANOTHER CHALLENGE PENDING

The court's ruling leaves expansion repugnants with one remaining legal challenge still pending in Chicago's 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The city can't touch the god's acre until that case is resolv Still, city officials praised Friday's ruling as an important degree forward.

Expansion repugnants meanwhile, said they were disappointed on the D.C. court's ruling, yet not discouraged.

"This is a 15-round championship fight. We dissipated round 13 . . but the fight's not over" moose Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson said.

Officials from Bensenville and moose Grove Village plan to confront Tuesday to discuss whether they will appeal, Johnson said.

The villages, in their suits against the city, also look for to prohibit the demolition of more than 600 hearths and businesses adjacent to the airport because the city lacks the funding to full the multibillion dollar project, they say.

mjthomas@suntimes.com

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