Perillo BMW settles lawsuit with feds that claimed it let pollutants in Chicago River

A BMW logo is displayed at a BMW showroom in Manhattan on August 01, 2019 in New York City.
A BMW logo is displayed at a BMW showroom in Manhattan on August 01, 2019 in New York City. Photo credit Spencer Platt/Getty Images

CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A Chicago auto dealer has settled a lawsuit with federal prosecutors that claimed the dealership polluted the Chicago River while improperly removing a steel river wall.

Joseph Perillo and Perillo BMW have agreed to pay $80,000 and remove a collapsed wall from the North Branch of the river near a building the dealership owns in the 1300 block of North Branch Street, according to federal prosecutors in Chicago.

Perillo BMW allowed a steel river wall to collapse in 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, the Sun-Times reported.

Joseph Perillo could not immediately be reached for comment.

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