About O'Hare International Airport Chicago Illinois

O’Hare began as a World War II Douglas Aircraft Company manufacturing site — specifically for assembling C-54 military transport planes at a location called Orchard Place. The airport code ORD comes from that history. After the war, Chicago converted the site to a commercial airport. Formally dedicated as O’Hare International Airport in 1949, commercial airline service began in 1955, and the airport entered continuous expansion almost immediately. By the early 1960s, O’Hare had surpassed Midway as Chicago’s primary commercial hub.

The decades of heaviest construction at O’Hare overlap almost precisely with the peak era of asbestos use in American commercial construction. 1950s — Initial Terminal Construction: Original terminal buildings, the control tower, mechanical systems, and supporting infrastructure were built during this period. Asbestos-containing materials were reportedly standard components in all large-scale commercial construction of this era. 1960s — Major Expansion: New terminal buildings, expanded concourses, additional hangars, extended runway systems, and substantially expanded mechanical and utility infrastructure were added during what represents the peak decade of asbestos use in American construction. 1970s — Energy Crisis Renovations: The energy crisis drove increased specification of insulation products — including materials allegedly containing asbestos manufactured by and Fiberglas — as existing structures underwent renovation. 1980s — Infrastructure Upgrades and Terminal Modernization: Work on heating and cooling systems, utility tunnels, and terminal upgrades continued. By the mid-1980s, asbestos hazards were publicly known, but renovation and upgrade work continued to disturb previously installed asbestos-containing materials. 1990s — Terminal 5 Construction: Construction of Terminal 5 (the International Terminal) and ongoing modernization work may have disturbed legacy asbestos-containing materials installed during earlier decades. 2000s — The O’Hare Modernization Program (OMP): One of the largest airport construction projects in U.S. history — a multi-billion-dollar runway reconfiguration, new terminal development, and infrastructure overhaul. Demolition and renovation of older structures may have disturbed asbestos-containing materials allegedly installed by , and decades earlier.

For a facility with O’Hare’s scale — enormous mechanical systems, massive piping networks, extensive electrical infrastructure, and strict fire safety codes — asbestos-containing materials were the default specification for builders and engineers of that era.

General Equipment at O'Hare International Airport Chicago Illinois

The equipment below represents the systems and infrastructure documented or typically present at this facility during the era when asbestos-containing materials were specified in industrial construction. This is general facility-equipment reference — not a legal attribution of any specific product, manufacturer, or exposure event to this facility. Material-category and manufacturer information is addressed in the AsbestosIndex Product Crosswalk linked under the records table below.

Industrial Boilers View crosswalk › Process Piping View crosswalk › Pipe Insulation View crosswalk › Block Insulation View crosswalk › Valves View crosswalk › Gaskets View crosswalk › Pumps View crosswalk › Heat Exchangers View crosswalk › Cooling Equipment View crosswalk ›

Documented Asbestos Evidence

The records below are verified, state-documented asbestos removals at this facility. Each entry represents a regulated abatement project where the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) was notified under federal NESHAP rules, the work was logged, and the asbestos-containing material was confirmed and removed under regulated conditions. These are not allegations or estimates — they are paper records tying documented asbestos-containing material to this specific site.

No Illinois EPA NESHAP abatement notifications have been identified for this facility in current public records. Per the framing above, absence of state-agency documentation should not be read as absence of asbestos — only as absence of a formal, regulated abatement event meeting reporting thresholds. Workers who recall encountering pipe insulation, block insulation, gaskets, or other asbestos-era construction materials at this facility may still have viable claims regardless of whether a state record exists.

Material Categories in Documented Records

The materials documented above (and similar asbestos-containing materials commonly encountered in records of this type) appear in the AsbestosIndex catalog with historical manufacturer and trust-fund information. Click a category to view manufacturers historically associated with that material:

Thermal System Insulation View crosswalk › Asbestos-Cement Board View crosswalk › Pipe Insulation View crosswalk › Roofing & Flashing View crosswalk › Spray Fireproofing View crosswalk › Floor Tile & Mastic View crosswalk › Ceiling Tile View crosswalk › Gaskets & Packing View crosswalk ›

Who May Have Been Exposed at O'Hare International Airport Chicago Illinois

Not every worker at O’Hare faced the same exposure risk. Based on documented industry practices and litigation records, the trades that may have faced the highest concentrations of airborne asbestos fibers include: Insulators and pipefitters — Worked directly with asbestos-containing pipe and block insulation, cutting and shaping materials that released fiber directly; Ironworkers and structural steel workers — Worked in close proximity to spray fireproofing application; Boilermakers — Worked extensively in mechanical rooms with high concentrations of asbestos-containing materials; Electricians — Worked with asbestos-containing wiring, switchgear, and panel insulation; Carpenters and drywall workers — Cut and installed asbestos-containing ceiling tiles, floor tiles, and joint compound; Laborers and general construction workers — Worked in and around all of the above areas.

Critical Filing Deadline & Next Steps

Illinois law gives mesothelioma and asbestos-disease claimants 2 years from the date of medical diagnosis to file a personal-injury lawsuit (735 ILCS 5/13-202). For wrongful-death claims after an asbestos-related death, the filing window is 2 years from the date of death (740 ILCS 180/2). The two deadlines run on separate tracks — preserving one does not extend the other.

The personal-injury clock runs from diagnosis, not from exposure. Mesothelioma latency is typically 20 to 50 years, so workers exposed in the 1950s–1980s are being diagnosed today.

Practical first steps

  1. Document what you remember. Pay stubs, W-2s, union cards, photographs, coworker names, and dates of employment. The WorkChain widget on this page can save a copy you can email yourself.
  2. Preserve medical records. Pathology reports, biopsy results, imaging, and pulmonary-function tests are central to both civil claims and trust-fund filings.
  3. Identify household members. Spouses who laundered work clothing and children of plant workers are eligible for secondary-exposure claims when diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease.
  4. Speak with an asbestos attorney with Illinois experience. The first conversation is free and confidential. Asbestos trust-fund claims and civil claims run on different tracks — both can be pursued in parallel.

Asbestos-Related Diseases

Asbestos fiber exposure can cause several specific diseases that typically appear decades after the original exposure. The latency period — the gap between exposure and diagnosis — usually runs 20 to 50 years. That's why workers exposed in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s are receiving diagnoses today.

Mesothelioma

A rare, aggressive cancer that affects the lining of the lungs (pleural mesothelioma), abdomen (peritoneal), or heart (pericardial). Mesothelioma is almost exclusively caused by asbestos exposure, which is why a mesothelioma diagnosis often points directly to historical workplace exposure. Average latency from first exposure to diagnosis is 30-50 years.

Asbestosis

A chronic, non-cancerous scarring of lung tissue caused by inhaled asbestos fibers. Asbestosis causes progressive shortness of breath, persistent cough, and reduced lung function. It does not improve with treatment, and it is a recognized basis for compensation under most trust schedules and civil claims.

Lung Cancer

Asbestos exposure significantly increases the risk of lung cancer, particularly when combined with a history of smoking. Asbestos-related lung cancer is compensable under the same trust schedules and civil claim avenues as mesothelioma.

Other Recognized Diseases

Pleural plaques, pleural thickening, laryngeal cancer, ovarian cancer, and certain gastrointestinal cancers are also recognized as asbestos-related under various trust schedules and case-law authorities, though eligibility and proof requirements vary by claim type.

If you have any of these diagnoses and you worked at this facility, lived with someone who did, or were exposed in any documented capacity, you may have a claim worth pursuing. Speak with an attorney before assuming you don't qualify.

Cross-State & Regional Corridor Workers

This is particularly relevant for residents of Missouri and Illinois, who share the heavily industrialized Mississippi River corridor and whose workers were routinely sent to major regional job sites, including O’Hare.

Data Sources

Information about facility equipment, industrial materials, and occupational records referenced on this page is drawn from publicly available sources where applicable, including:

If specific equipment or product claims in this article are sourced from a non-public database, the source is identified parenthetically within the text above.