The Illinois First District Appellate Court has ruled that Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago cannot force its insurers to cover claims stemming from the building’s contamination of the Chicago River.

In the original 2018 lawsuit, the State of Illinois claimed that the Trump International Hotel & Tower water intake system was emitting pollutants into the river without a permit. In 2021, Continental Casualty, a subsidiary of CNA Financial, filed a lawsuit, alleging Trump’s insurance policy did not cover violations mentioned in the state’s complaint. Pollution exclusions were part of these insurance policies, reported Crain’s.

The appellate court determined the hot water discharges do not constitute a covered “occurrence” under the insurance contracts. The decision affirms a lower court’s earlier ruling. Last month, the Sierra Club and the nonprofit Friends of the Chicago River announced plans to sue the Trump Organization, alleging the tower’s discharge system violated the federal Clean Water Act.