A. A user that has violated or continues to violate any provision of this chapter including a wastewater discharge approval, order or pretreatment standard or requirement shall be liable to the city for a maximum civil penalty of $10,000 per violation, per day. In the case of a monthly or other long-term average discharge limit, penalties shall accrue for each day during the period of the violation.

B. The director may recover reasonable attorneys’ fees, court costs, and other expenses associated with enforcement activities, including sampling and monitoring expenses, and the cost of any actual damages incurred by the city.

C. In determining the amount of civil liability, the court shall consider all relevant circumstances, including, but not limited to, the extent of harm caused by the violation, the magnitude and duration, any economic benefit gained through the user’s violation, corrective actions by the user, the compliance history of the user, and any other factor as justice requires.

D. Filing a suit for civil penalties shall not be a bar against, or a prerequisite for, taking any other action against a user.

E. Method of Collection. Court-ordered civil penalties or fines may be added to the user’s next scheduled sewer service charge, and the city shall have such other collection remedies as required to collect sewer service charges or penalties. Any such assessment, penalty, or charges shall constitute a lien against the individual user’s property in the manner provided in state law for delinquent sewer charges. Court-ordered civil penalties or fines included within a judgment may also be collected in the manner provided under state law for the collection of judgments.

F. Failure to Pay Civil Penalty. A user’s failure to pay such civil penalties shall constitute a violation of this chapter and be grounds for termination of water/sewer utility services and revocation of the discharge permit or other equivalent control document. [Ord. 2020-07-016 § 1; Ord. 2019-11-032 § 1].