Progress toward realization of a third major Chicago area airport near Peotone continues to slog along at a glacial pace, much like it has for the past 40 years.

Supporters continue to tout potential economic benefits of the proposed South Suburban Airport. Boosters speculate that Amazon and others would move cargo through the facility. Development would create logistics jobs for southern Cook County residents, supporters say, which would help reduce gun violence and address wealth inequality and systemic racism.

Farmers and other opponents continue to rail against the project, calling it a waste of state money. They say it would destroy fertile soil and shatter the peaceful existence that generations have enjoyed in eastern Will County.

Illinois has gradually spent about $100 million over the past 20 years to acquire most of the 4,200 acres needed to build the airport. Lawmakers have allocated about $200 million for a new Interstate 57 interchange and other infrastructure improvements.

State administrators, however, appear to be in no hurry to advance the project amid prolonged opposition.

Now, opponents are taking advantage of the lull in momentum to once again call for the state to abandon the folly of what they see as a boondoggle. A new alliance that includes the Will County Farm Bureau and the Will/South Cook Soil & Water Conservation District says it would be better for the economy, the environment and the food supply to keep the acreage designated for the airport as farmland.

“We think this rolling countryside is best suited to serve an economy based around food and agricultural enterprises,” alliance members said in a statement issued July 30.

Airport foes seem to be seeking strength in numbers by looking to join forces with people who oppose intermodal developments near Joliet and foodies who savor farm-to-table produce.

“Northeastern Illinois doesn’t need more sprawl. What we need is a regional agri-food, nutrition and conservation business plan that incentivizes farmers to continue producing economic, environmental and social benefits for another 100 years,” alliance members said.

The statement was attributed to Will County Farm Bureau President Steve Warrick, Will/South Cook Soil & Water Conservation District Chair Jim Robbins and Iroquois Valley Farmland REIT co-founder and CEO Dave Miller.

The statement was distributed by Bob Heuer of HNA Networks. Heuer is passionate about food economies, soil conservation and other concerns. We spoke at length and found common ground on some points.

For example, both Heuer and I would much rather see warehouses, distribution centers and other logistics projects built in areas that would redevelop blighted former industrial properties in Harvey, Blue Island, Markham and other communities, rather than consuming more pristine farmland in Will County.

We differ, however, on the airport. Heuer opposes it, whereas I support it.

Heuer talked about a 2017 study on the Chicago area food supply system. Openlands, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning and others commissioned the study. The report examined food economies for a vast, 38-county region that stretched from southwestern Michigan, across northwestern Indiana and northeastern Illinois to southeastern Wisconsin.

“A diversified farm economy is what we need,” Heuer said.

I told Heuer I sympathized with folks like Will County Board member Judy Ogalla of Monee and George Oschenfeld, president of the citizen group Shut This Airport Nightmare Down.

I said I understood the feelings of residents of rural eastern Will County who resent being lumped together with southern Cook County to become part of the Southland, when they more closely associate with farmers in central Illinois.

I get how people are frustrated by how the airport project has dragged on for more than four decades. Some are angry about the prospect of involuntarily losing their land to eminent domain. Many are weary of the uncertainty.

Some direct their anger and frustration at individuals such as Jesse Jackson Jr., the disgraced former congressman who fiercely advocated for the airport before he and his ex-wife were convicted of misusing campaign funds for personal use.

However, I told Heuer, after listening to opponents I remain convinced the airport is the region’s best hope to reverse decades of economic decline.

The fact is, homeowners in southern Cook County bear a greater share of the property tax burden to fund schools and other services due to the relative lack of commercial and industrial businesses.

The fact is, the south suburbs lost more than 100,000 jobs and communities around O’Hare International Airport gained more than 100,000 jobs in the 20 years after O’Hare began operations.

The fact is, O’Hare and Midway airports are completely booked with passenger flights and lack the airspace capacity needed to handle the booming business in cargo air traffic. Rockford is too far away. The airport in Gary, Indiana, is landlocked and lacks the potential to develop surrounding land that Peotone offers.

Actually, the address of the proposed South Suburban Airport is in Monee, but people have been saying it is in Peotone for so long that it has become part of its identity: the “Peotone airport.”

I wish opponents the best and I will never disparage Americans who help feed the world by working the land. But, I told Heuer, I fail to grasp the strategy of linking farm-to-table produce with airport opposition.

All the hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of cannabis sold in Illinois are grown indoors, I told him. Developers announced plans to turn a vacant Target store in Calumet City into an indoor vertical growing operation to provide lettuce and other produce to restaurants and grocers. You no longer need farmland to grow vegetables. Agriculture is a big business, heavily subsidized by taxpayers. It’s not even environmentally friendly in many cases, with excessive use of herbicides, pesticides and other products that contaminate water supplies and endanger the health of humans.

Organic, small-scale gardens are one thing. Massive acreage devoted to growing corn and soybeans are another. I don’t buy into the effort to conflate food economics with opposition to the South Suburban Airport.

I accept the many valid points made by opponents, but I personally believe the airport would serve the greater good. I think the airport would benefit more people than it would harm.

What’s next? Probably more of the same. There will be more foot-dragging until the state’s political leadership decides it’s time to make a serious effort to push the project.

Foes will continue seeking opportunities to criticize the project. There will be many. Critics point out the state pays no real estate taxes to local governments on land it acquired for the airport, which increases the tax burden on residents.

That’s unfair. It’s also unfair to remain in a state of perpetual limbo. Like I said, there’s plenty to criticize.

But I think the airport is inevitable. It seems highly unlikely the state would seek to divest itself of land it acquired for the airport. Someday soon, investors may decide they can make a lot of money building an airport. Amazon continues to play its cards close to its chest.

“Amazon is a dynamic business and we are constantly evaluating new locations to best serve our customers, however we have a policy of not commenting on our future road map,” spokeswoman Caitlin Polochak said in response to an inquiry about the company’s position on the South Suburban Airport.

To be clear, airport supporters have speculated Amazon and others would likely use the airport if it is built. Amazon itself does not appear to be in the airport investment or real estate development business. Other companies have developed and built fulfillment center structures that Amazon has later occupied.

The possibility that the airport might benefit one of the world’s most profitable companies provides a fresh source or frustration for Heuer and other opponents.

“The whole premise of acquiring the land was that there was a public purpose,” Heuer told me. “But now it’s like, we’re going to hand this over to Amazon. That’s a private purpose.”

Ted Slowik is a columnist for the Daily Southtown.tslowik@tribpub.com