FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                         ENR
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1996                          (202) 514-2008
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

    MALL OF AMERICA DEVELOPER AGREES TO SAVE VALUABLE CHICAGO
                             WETLANDS
 

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In an innovative wetlands settlement, one of
the nation's largest developers, Melvin Simon & Associates, Inc.,
agreed today to donate property in suburban Chicago to restore
and preserve valuable wetlands that the government alleges the
company destroyed during construction of a retail shopping
center.  

     Simon has agreed to turn over an 11-acre plot -- part of a
property with an estimated market value of up to $850,000 -- to
the local park district in the Village of Bridgeview.  The
company will also create and enhance wetlands on a nearby 22-acre
plot to replace areas buried under the first phase of the
Bridgeview Court shopping mall development.  All of the property
is considered wetlands that are a sometime home to migratory
birds and to rare plant species.

     Simon, the second-largest shopping mall developer in the
country, is a privately-held company with headquarters in
Indianapolis.  The company also developed the $700 million Mall
of America near Minneapolis, the largest mall in the United
States.

       Under today's agreement, entered by a U.S. District Court
in Chicago, Simon will also pay a $170,000 civil penalty.

     Local park districts will maintain the wetlands preserves
and host environmental education projects for the public.  The
donated land was originally designated to be the second phase of
the shopping mall development but had long been targeted for
preservation by local nature conservationists.   

     "By protecting these valuable natural resources, Simon says
it wants to be a good neighbor to the people of Chicago," said
Lois J. Schiffer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the
Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division. 
"Today's settlement shows that, despite the heated rhetoric on 
both sides of the wetlands debate, our program is working -- and
working well."

     The agreement resolves a 1994 enforcement action by the
Justice Department on behalf the Environmental Protection Agency,
Region 5.  The government's lawsuit contended that Simon had
violated Section 404 of the Clean Water Act by disturbing and
filling in wetlands without a permit while constructing the
Bridgeview Court shopping mall.  Simon began construction of the
mall in the late 1980's.  The mall has since opened for business. 

     Simon has denied any wrongdoing but agreed today to this 
innovative settlement package.

     The shopping mall and adjacent properties lie in the
historic Chicago Lake Plain, once a significant wetland buffer
surrounding the southern shoreline of Lake Michigan.  

     Wetlands are areas saturated by surface or groundwater and
often support valuable fish, wildlife and plant species. 
Wetlands include swamps, marshes and bogs and are often the only
places where fish and wildlife can live and thrive.  In addition,
wetlands draw water from nearby areas, helping to protect
homeowners and crops from flood damage.

     The case is United States v. Bridgeview Joint Venture et al,
docket number 94-C-3184 (N.D. Ill.)

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96-070