Work to replace noise-blocking windows that gave off a burnt-plastic smell in homes near Midway Airport is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2027, Chicago Department of Aviation Commissioner Michael J. McMurray told aldermen.
McMurray laid out the schedule under questioning from Ald. Marty Quinn (13th) during a City Council Budget and Finance Committee hearing on Oct. 27.
Quinn said the work has taken too long.
“I think it would be in the best interest of the City of Chicago to get information about the project out,” Quinn said. “Because this has dragged on for so long. No fault of yours, we were faced with COVID and inspections but people started to lose hope and confidence and I know that we weren’t going to allow this to not get done.”
The windows went in through the department’s Residential Sound Insulation Program, which has installed replacement windows in homes around Midway and O’Hare airports since 1995. The city put them in to cut airplane noise for people living near Midway.
Then the windows became a problem due to what the accompanying screens were made of.
“It was determined that these windows were off-gassing burnt plastic into the house,” Quinn said in an interview with the SouthWest News-Herald.
The department has confirmed odor coming from program-installed windows and doors in more than 2,400 homes, according to its odorous windows webpage.
The aviation department began testing in June 2017 to find the cause and to check for health hazards.
Two independent firms, an industrial hygiene firm and an architectural testing firm, tested windows in a laboratory and in homes where owners agreed to let the city swap in new windows.
The industrial hygiene firm, Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions Inc., concluded there is no evidence that the window products or their odors pose a threat to health, the department said. Its testing found the primary source of the smell is the polyvinyl chloride-coated insect screens in many of the windows.
The Department of Aviation said it has rewritten its technical specifications for future construction contracts.
The new rules bar PVC coatings on screens, require screens mounted outside all panes of glass, require windows installed and shimmed from inside and outside the building and require odor and volatile organic compound testing on representative vinyl windows and sliding doors before they are manufactured.
At the hearing, Quinn asked McMurray directly: “Shifting gears, can you provide a status on the replacement of the smelly windows?”
“The odorous windows. Yes and I know you’ve been good about checking in with us on that,” McMurray said.
McMurray said he believed about 2,294 homes had been approved for mitigation by the program’s advisory council, a step that cleared the way for an odor mitigation phase.
“They’ve set up four phases to mitigate the windows,” he said. “The first phase consists of 225 homes and the city awarded a construction contract in May of this year. We anticipate beginning construction early next year on that first phase.”
The remaining phases follow over the next two years, according to McMurray.
“The second phase covers 242 homes,” he said. “The city advertised for construction bids in September 2026 and expects to award the contract early in 2027, with construction beginning in fall 2027.”
The third phase also covers 242 homes. The department plans to advertise for construction bids this fall, with construction beginning in fall 2027.
The fourth and final phase covers 250 homes. The department plans to advertise for construction bids early in 2027 with construction starting in 2028.
Quinn asked whether the plan was still to finish roughly 200 homes a year.
McMurray affirmed the alderman’s question answering, “a little bit more, but yes.”
The state pays for the work.
In June 2019, Illinois created the State Aviation Program Fund and the Sound-Reducing Windows and Doors Replacement Fund to cover replacements, according to the department. A separate state law set eligibility rules and created the RSIP Advisory Committee which confirms which homes qualify and decides the order of replacement.
Under Public Act 102-0678, passed Dec. 10, 2021, at least 10% of homes receiving replacements in a year must be homes that have shown “extreme hardship,” defined as liquid getting in through the window or door, a resident’s health and medical condition, or residents with sensitivities to smell. The committee approved its hardship process on Nov. 20, 2023, the department said.
In July 2023, Illinois statute 30 ILCS 105/6z-20.1 was amended to increase funding earmarked for the Sound-Reducing Windows and Doors Replacement Fund.
Homeowners with a confirmed odor received a letter explaining how to apply and the committee has finished reviewing claims submitted before Feb. 24, 2025. It will review later claims, according to the department.
The deadline to request an odor inspection passed on Feb. 21, 2022. Homeowners who called before then but never got an inspection or whose inspection did not confirm an odor can call the RSIP office at 773-68-NOISE, or 773-686-6473, according to the O’Hare and Midway International Airports website.
The bidding process for RSIP Odor Mitigation Phase Two closed on Oct. 28, according to the govdirections.com website.
Quinn said residents in all four wards should get information on all four phases so they know the city ” … has made good on its promise to replace these windows.”
“We definitely should do that,” McMurray said.