A judge this week found Trump Tower in Chicago liable for polluting the Chicago River without the proper permits and failing to prevent fish from being sucked into the building’s HVAC system.
Cook County Judicial Circuit Court Judge Thaddeus L. Wilson sided with environmental groups and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, who say the building owners created “a public nuisance” for years through the operation of the water intake system used to cool the property.
The environmental offenses at Trump Tower began in 2008 and likely killed thousands of fish, according to the Sierra Club, one of the groups involved.
The alleged facts in the case are “well founded,” Wilson wrote, and the building owners failed to take steps required to minimize the property’s impact on aquatic life. The building was also found liable for discharges of heated water and for misreporting its discharge levels, among other complaints.
“Defendant has created and continues to create a public nuisance in violation of Illinois law by operating its [cooling water intake system] in a manner that substantially and unreasonably interferes with the public right to fish and otherwise recreate in the Chicago River,” Wilson wrote in his order.
Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Donald Trump’s reelection campaign, directed questions on the ruling to the Trump Organization. An email to the Trump Organization’s press team on Thursday was not immediately returned.
The building is owned by 401 North Wabash Venture, LLC, doing business as Trump International Hotel & Tower.
Albert Ettinger, an attorney representing Friends of the Chicago River and the Sierra Club in the case, said the problems at Trump Tower are particularly frustrating given that the groups have been trying to increase fish count and improve water quality. Once heavily polluted, the Chicago River has more recently been “recovering,” he said. The building is one of the largest users of Chicago River water for heating and cooling, the groups say.
“Frankly, it’s kind of aggravating to be stocking fish into the river while Trump Tower is sucking them out,” Ettinger said.
There could be more hearings in the case to determine the exact remedies and how much the penalties will be, unless the parties reach a settlement, he added.
