The Trump Tower operator agreed to pay $4.8 million to settle allegations that its cooling-water intake system illegally sucked in and killed thousands of fish from the Chicago River over a years-long period.

The proposed settlement, announced Thursday, has to be approved by a Cook County Circuit Court judge.

The tower at 401 N. Wabash Ave. has been operating without a state environmental permit and does not accurately report water discharge levels, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and two advocacy organizations alleged.

“The Chicago River is one of our city’s most treasured natural resources, and future generations should benefit from the opportunities for recreation and commerce it provides,” Raoul said in a statement. “I am pleased to have reached this agreement, which will protect the Chicago River and the important habitat that it provides to local wildlife.”

Since the building draws in a large amount of water for its cooling system, it is subject to federal and state requirements aimed at protecting the river and its fish.

After a Cook County Circuit Court judge sided with the state, Sierra Club and Friends of the Chicago River last September and declared the building a “public nuisance ,” Trump Tower lawyers began settlement talks with the parties.

The judge said in an order then that the Trump Tower “has created and continues to create a public nuisance in violation of Illinois law,” and the intake system operates “in a manner that substantially and unreasonably interferes with the public right to fish and otherwise recreate in the Chicago River.”

Lawsuits by the Illinois attorney general and the environmental groups were initially filed in 2018, a decade after the Trump building opened.

“This proposed settlement is a major step forward to ensure that all facilities using the river for cooling — regardless of size or ownership — comply with environmental law and regulation to protect the health of the Chicago River and its wildlife,” Friends of the Chicago River said in a statement.

The tower is part of holdings of the Trump Organization, the private conglomerate owned by President Donald Trump .

A Trump representative didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Of the amount paid, $3 million will go toward Chicago River habitat improvement and the state will collect a $1.5 million civil penalty. The rest of the payout will go to cover litigation costs.

“We are so happy that we’ve been able to reach this compromise and that it will deliver a remarkable $3 million investment into the Chicago River,” said Robert Weinstock, lawyer for the environmental groups.

The Wabash Avenue Bridge, outside Trump Tower in downtown Chicago, was lifted as the city prepared for civil unrest in response to Election Day in November 2020.