Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul today announced a Cook County Circuit Court judge granted his office’s motion for summary judgment, finding 401 North Wabash Venture LLC (Trump International Hotel & Tower, known as Trump Tower) violated both the Illinois Environmental Protection Act and Illinois Pollution Control Board regulations. The decision also grants summary judgment to the Sierra Club and Friends of the Chicago River, both plaintiff-intervenors in the case.
“The Chicago River is one of our city’s most treasured natural resources, providing opportunities for recreation and commerce. For years, Trump Tower failed to follow state and federal regulations that protect the health of the Chicago River and the balance of critical aquatic ecosystems therein,” Raoul said. “All entities – no matter who they are – must be held accountable when they willfully disregard our laws. I am pleased with this decision, and I am committed to continuing to vigorously enforce our environmental laws.”
“The agency is pleased with the court’s ruling and will continue our work with the Illinois Attorney General’s office to ensure Trump Tower is held accountable for its numerous violations of Illinois law,” said Illinois EPA Interim Director James Jennings.
In 2018, the Illinois Attorney General’s office filed a lawsuit against Trump Tower based on a referral from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA). The lawsuit alleged Trump Tower failed to obtain the necessary permit and submit information to the IEPA, as required by the Clean Water Act, to demonstrate compliance with federal regulations relating to the building’s operation of a cooling water intake system. Also in 2018, the Sierra Club and Friends of the Chicago River filed an intervening lawsuit against Trump Tower over continuing violations of the Clean Water Act and Public Nuisance.
Raoul’s office and the parties entered into an agreed interim order in 2018 that required Trump Tower to follow the terms of its expired National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit and report the average daily volume of heated water it discharges into the Chicago River every month. Trump Tower had been submitting the monthly discharge monitoring reports (DMR) since 2013, as required by its first NPDES permit.
The Attorney General’s office amended its lawsuit in September 2023, adding violations of both the Illinois Environmental Protection Act and Illinois Pollution Control Board regulations after the plaintiff-intervenors’ expert witness discovered that the Trump Tower facility had been underreporting to the IEPA the volume of its heated water discharges for over a decade in its DMRs.
Trump Tower, located along the Chicago River, operates a cooling water intake system capable of pulling more than 20 million gallons of water in from the river per day to cool the building’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning system. Due to the amount of water the building takes in daily, federal law requires extensive studies of Chicago River fish populations and the impact of the building’s water intake system. The federal Clean Water Act regulates cooling water intake structures because they can pull large volumes of fish and other aquatic life into a building’s cooling system. Fish and other aquatic organisms can also get trapped against intake screens.
Construction of the Trump Tower facility began in 2005 without an NPDES permit first being obtained authorizing discharges into the river. The Attorney General’s office filed a complaint with the Illinois Pollution Control Board in 2012 alleging Trump Tower was unlawfully releasing heated water into the Chicago River. The matter was settled, and Trump Tower was ordered to obtain an NPDES permit, pay a fine and comply with environmental laws. The building sought a modified NPDES permit in 2013 after initially misreporting the amount of water being withdrawn and discharged into the Chicago River each day.
Raoul’s office is seeking civil penalties and injunctive relief for Trump Tower’s violations of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act and Illinois Pollution Control Board regulations, which will be determined by the court at a future hearing that has not yet been scheduled by the court.
Supervising Attorney Elizabeth Dubats, Senior Assistant Attorney General Christopher Grant, and Assistant Attorneys General Ann Marie Hanohano, Rebecca Kanz and Molly Kordas handled the case for Raoul’s Environmental Bureau.
