The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment – Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) and Mountain Top Suburban Improvement District (“Mountain Top”) entered into an April 10th Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”) addressing alleged violations of a Clean Water Act National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) permit. See LIS No. 21-034.
The CAO provides that Mountain Top operates a non-municipal domestic sewage treatment works (“Facility”) in Garland County, Arkansas.
The Facility discharges treated wastewater to an unnamed tributary of Mill Creek which eventually moves to the Ouachita River. Such discharge is regulated pursuant to an NPDES permit.
The NPDES permit is stated to have expired on December 31, 2017. DEQ is stated to have notified Mountain Top that the permit would expire and that in order to continue the regulated activity, a complete renewal application must be submitted no later than July 4, 2019. Such NPDES permit renewal a