The Sierra Club and the nonprofit Friends of the Chicago River intend to sue the Trump Organization, alleging that the Trump International Hotel & Tower’s discharge system has violated the federal Clean Water Act.
The two environmental groups served a notice of intent this week claiming that the owners of the 92-story tower at 401 N. Wabash Ave. ran afoul of their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, or NPDES, permit by underreporting the rate at which the building withdraws water from the Chicago River. Trump Tower uses the river for its cooling system and dumps heated water back into it. The practice is allowed if the building holds a NPDES permit, which is mandated by the federal Clean Water Act. But for more than a decade, the Trump Organization has underreported its flow rates to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency by 44%, according to the Sierra Club and Friends of the Chicago River.
Read more via Crain's Chicago Business.