A Cook County (Illinois) judge has ruled that the Trump Hotel in Chicago violated environmental laws by illegally sucking water out of the Chicago River to cool the buildings HVAC system, the Chicago Tribune reports.
The building takes 20 million gallons of water each day out of the river to cool the system, sucking 14,000 gallons of water in from the river every minute, and dumping it back in up to 35 degrees hotter.
The judge ruled that the Trump Organization did not take sufficient measures to protect fish and wildlife that were being sucked into the water intake, nor did they take sufficient steps to reduce the temperature of the outgoing water to mitigate the impact on fish in the river. Penalties will be levied during a March 11th hearing.