Trump Tower ruled 'public nuisance' over fish kills

Trump Tower is a public nuisance that threatens the Chicago River with its cooling water intake system that illegally sucked in and killed thousands of fish over a number of years, a judge ruled this week.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and a pair of environmental organizations asked Cook County Circuit Court Judge Thaddeus L. Wilson last year to rule on failures of the building operator to comply with environmental laws.

The building at 401 N. Wabash Ave. operates without a proper state environmental permit, does not accurately report water discharge levels and violates at least three other laws, according to the lawsuit. Wilson said those facts were "well founded" and "not materially challenged."

Those facts are that the Trump Tower "has created and continues to create a a public nuisance in violation of Illinois law," and the intake system operates “in a manner that substantially and unreasonably interferes with the public right to fish and otherwise recreate in the Chicago River,” Wilson said in an order dated Monday.

Raoul's predecessor Lisa Madigan, Friends of the Chicago River and Sierra Club initially filed a lawsuit against the Trump building in 2018. That complaint was amended and refiled almost a year ago.

Former President Donald Trump, who is running for a second term in the White House, opened the Trump Tower in Chicago amid much fanfare in 2009.

While the case still has additional court dates, environmental advocates claimed victory.

“They were able to kill more fish and aquatic organisms than what would be allowed,” Margaret Frisbie, executive director of Friends of the Chicago River, said in an interview. “This decision brings us near the end of a six-year journey.”

Frisbie's organization estimates thousands of fish and other aquatic life were sucked in by the Trump Tower's cooling system.

“Trump Tower has litigated this case by pretending the rules don’t exist or that basic facts aren’t what they obviously are,” said Robert Weinstock, who represented Sierra Club and Friends of the Chicago River through Northwestern University’s Environmental Advocacy Center. “The court’s ruling forces them to live in reality and comply with the law like everyone else.”

The building draws up to 20 million gallons of water from the Chicago River every day to help cool the building.

Because of the amount of water the building draws in, it is subject to federal and state requirements aimed at protecting the river and its fish.

“Trump Tower failed to follow state and federal regulations that protect the health of the Chicago River,” Raoul said in a statement. “All entities – no matter who they are – must be held accountable when they willfully disregard our laws.”

The next hearing in the matter will be held in November.

If the two sides don't settle, there will need to be additional hearings to determine steps to take so the building can be in compliance with the law.

Raoul said he will also seek a civil penalty that will be assessed later for the state violations.

A lawyer representing Trump Tower didn't return calls seeking comment.

“We’ll be monitoring to make sure they obey the law,” said Jack Darin, director of Sierra Club Illinois, adding that he’s “proud to hold these scofflaws accountable.”