Harrisburg: The Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago has discharged millions of gallons of warm water into the city’s iconic river without a permit, putting fish and other aquatic life there at risk, the Illinois attorney-general contended in a lawsuit filed this week.

In the suit, filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County on Monday, the attorney general, Lisa Madigan, alleged that even though Trump Tower’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit expired August 31, 2017, it has continued to release almost 20 million gallons of water it uses for cooling into the river each day.

Additionally, the lawsuit said Trump Tower has failed to submit the results of studies that are meant to show the effect of the building’s water intake system on the Chicago River and its fish; such results should have been sent to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency in 2013, according to the attorney general’s office.

Like many buildings — including several others along the Chicago River — Trump Tower uses a heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system. Such systems draw in water from a source like the river, use it to cool the facility and then release the hotter wastewater back into its source.

As intake systems draw in water, fish and other aquatic organisms can get sucked into the system or trapped against screens; then, when the heated effluent is discharged back into the water, the sudden change in water temperature can harm the ecosystem. Because of these environmental impacts, federal law requires extensive studies, the results of which prosecutors said Trump Tower officials had failed to submit.

In a statement, Madigan, a Democrat who is not running for re-election, said Trump Tower was acting “without any regard to how it may be impacting the river’s ecosystem.”

She added, “I filed my lawsuit to make sure Trump Tower cannot continue violating the law.” The lawsuit lists three counts against Trump Tower and asks a judge to fine building operators thousands of dollars for each day the violations persist.

In an emailed statement, a spokeswoman for the Trump Organisation said Tuesday, “We are disappointed that the Illinois attorney general would choose to file this suit considering such items are generally handled at the administrative level.”

The statement continued, “One can only conclude that this decision was motivated by politics.”

The lawsuit was filed in part at the request of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, which reports to Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican. A spokeswoman for Rauner did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment on Tuesday night.

Madigan had filed a similar complaint with the Illinois Pollution Control Board in 2012, which was settled and resulted in Trump Tower being ordered to obtain the permit it had been lacking, pay a fine and comply with environmental laws, prosectors said. Even after that ordeal, they said, the building misreported the amount of water it was withdrawing and discharging into the Chicago River each day — and that forced officials to seek a modified permit in 2013.

The Chicago River, which was once a polluted eyesore, saw its fortunes improve significantly at the turn of the 20th century when engineers reversed its flow to send pollution away from Lake Michigan, the city’s source of drinking water. Now, more than a century later, the riverfront has transformed into a draw for countless visitors who want to take in the city’s commanding views and classic Chicago architecture. And the river itself has become a home for water taxis, paddle boats, kayaks — and the fish that state prosecutors say they are compelled to protect.