U.S. Attorney’s Office settles lawsuit with Chicago auto dealership over alleged pollution in Chicago River
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced that it reached a settlement with a Chicago auto dealership to resolve claims that it discharged pollutants into the Chicago River and created a hazardous obstruction to navigation. The U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a lawsuit last year in U.S. District Court in Chicago on behalf of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, alleging that JOSEPH J. PERILLO and PERILLO BMW INC. violated the Rivers and Harbors Act and the Clean Water Act by unlawfully placing an obstruction in the North Branch of the Chicago River. The suit claimed that Perillo and his company allowed a steel river wall to collapse into the river in October 2018 and subsequently cut off the wall at the water level, leading to a discharge of pollutants into the river and creating a hazardous obstruction to navigation.