An Illinois appellate court has affirmed a lower court ruling that there was no "occurrence" that would trigger the duty to defend or to indemnify under multiple CGL policies issued to a commercial property owner. The case is Continental Cas. Co. v. 401 N. Wabash Venture, LLC, 2023 Ill. App. LEXIS 313 (Ill. App. 2023). 

The Underlying Suit 

A property owned by 401 North Wabash Venture, LLC, also known as the Trump International Hotel and Tower, is situated next to the Chicago River. The HVAC system for the building withdrew nearly 20 million gallons of water from the river on a daily basis to use for air conditioning, and put the same amount back in the river as a heated effluent, a contaminant that required users to obtain a special permit to dump heated effluent into the river. 401 North Wabash had obtained the appropriate permit and renewed it on multiple occasions prior to litigation. A renewal application had been filed in May 2017, but the permit had not been issued before the August 2017 expiration date. Despite the permit's expiration, 401 North Wabash continued putting the heated effluent back into the Chicago River after August 2017. In 2018, the State of Illinois sued 401 North Wabash for violations of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act and noncompliance with environmental regulations. The state's motion for judgment on the pleadings was granted in January 2021.