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Title 33, Navigation and Navigable WatersRelease 119-102

§421 Deposit of Refuse, Etc., in Lake Michigan Near Chicago

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

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Do not dump any waste into Lake Michigan within eight miles of the shore opposite Cook County, Illinois, or Lake County, Indiana. Only liquid flows from streets and sewers, or material put inside a breakwater that prevents escape, are allowed. Government officers may not authorize dumping. Work to build or repair breakwaters or navigation or water‑supply structures is allowed. Violators face a misdemeanor and a fine up to $1,000.

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

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102