PRIA Logo™
Take the PRIA Score
Title 33 — Navigation and Navigable WatersRelease 119-73

§421 Deposit of refuse, etc., in Lake Michigan near Chicago

Title 33 › Chapter CHAPTER 9— - PROTECTION OF NAVIGABLE WATERS AND OF HARBOR AND RIVER IMPROVEMENTS GENERALLY › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - IN GENERAL › § 421

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

You must not dump or put any kind of refuse into Lake Michigan opposite Cook County, Illinois, or Lake County, Indiana, within eight miles of the shore. The only allowed discharge is liquid flow from streets and sewers. Refuse may be put inside a breakwater if the breakwater stops it from escaping and contaminating the lake. Building or fixing breakwaters or navigation or water‑supply structures is allowed. No government officer may authorize breaking this rule. Violating it is a misdemeanor and can bring a fine up to $1,000 for each offense.

Full Legal Text

Title 33, §421

Navigation and Navigable Waters — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

It shall not be lawful to throw, discharge, dump, or deposit, or cause, suffer, or procure, to be thrown, discharged, dumped, or deposited, any refuse matter of any kind or description whatever other than that flowing from streets and sewers and passing therefrom in a liquid state into Lake Michigan, at any point opposite or in front of the county of Cook, in the State of Illinois, or the county of Lake in the State of Indiana, within eight miles from the shore of said lake, unless said material shall be placed inside of a breakwater so arranged as not to permit the escape of such refuse material into the body of the lake and cause contamination thereof; and no officer of the Government shall dump or cause or authorize to be dumped any material contrary to the provisions of this section: Provided, however, That the provisions of this section shall not apply to work in connection with the construction, repair, and protection of breakwaters and other structures built in aid of navigation, or for the purpose of obtaining water supply. Any person violating any provision of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be fined for each offense not exceeding $1,000.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section is from act June 23, 1910, popularly known as the “Rivers and Harbors Act of 1910”.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

33 U.S.C. § 421

Title 33 — Navigation and Navigable Waters

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73