WMAQ Channel 5 - Editorial 5 - "Deep Tunnel in Deep Trouble" (1979)

Here's an editorial by Dillon Smith, Editorial Director of WMAQ Channel 5, about the massive cost overruns that have been plaguing Chicago's deep tunnel project that was intended to allow rain water to flow through reservoirs and keep out polluted water.

Dillon cites how estimates of its cost (which politicians have had no concern about, due to the federal government shelling out the money) have gone up from $3 billion to $7 billion to a more recent General Accounting Office estimate (performed at the request of Senator Charles Percy) of $11 billion - which, as he notes, would translate into $1,400 per person, or $5,600 for a family of four, if they were to pay out of their own pockets. In addition, he expresses concerns that the deep tunnel may not fulfill all what was promised.

Mr. Smith concludes by advising the city to "stop digging and start thinking."

Ending title card:

Editorial 5
Dillon Smith - Editorial Director
Monte Newman - General Manager

"The digging goes on - the costs go up."

This aired on local Chicago TV in 1979.

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