Lawsuit Authorized Against Luxury Uptown Apartment Owner

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The city of Minneapolis says the city council has authorized a lawsuit against the owner of a luxury apartment building that is accused of discharging groundwater into the Chain of Lakes, affecting both the environment and public safety.

On Monday afternoon, the city made the announcement of the lawsuit against Lake and Knox LLC, the owner of the 1800 Lake building on 1800 Knox Avenue South. The city says Lake and Knox LLC is currently pumping water into a storm sewer (at the rate of 170 gallons per minute) that empties into a lagoon between Lake of the Isles and Lake Calhoun, near a busy stretch of Uptown.

The city says the owner does not have permission – from either the city or the state – to pump groundwater from its property into storm sewers or the lagoon. The city says it's asked the owner to stop, but Lake and Knox LLC allegedly failed to do so.

The effects of the continued water pumping, the city says, makes cross-country skiing on the Uptown lakes dangerous, prevents storm sewer maintenance and causes "other adverse environmental impacts."