Which Montana wastewater plant received the largest EPA penalty?

City Of Great Falls WWTP in Great Falls: $645,000 assessed in fiscal year 2008 (City of Great Falls & Malteurop North America Inc, Final Order With Penalty). Penalties are the amounts EPA records as assessed or agreed, not necessarily what was collected.

What does an EPA administrative order mean for a wastewater plant?

Most cases here are administrative orders under section 309 of the Clean Water Act: EPA finds permit violations, usually effluent limits or discharge without a permit, and orders the plant to return to compliance, often with a corrective action plan, a schedule and sometimes a penalty. Judicial cases go through the Department of Justice and typically end in a consent decree with a capital programme behind it. The latest case in Montana is from Apr 2026.

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EPA enforcement actions against wastewater plants in Montana

Name: EPA enforcement actions against wastewater treatment plants in Montana
Creator: Klarifi
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24 formal actions at 14 of 102 plants · $709,325 in penalties · 13 EPA inspections

EPA's enforcement records list 24 formal civil enforcement cases naming publicly owned wastewater treatment plants in Montana, 3 of them since fiscal year 2020. The cases involve 14 of the state's 102 plants, with $709,325 in penalties assessed. The most common ground is npdes permit violations (11 cases). EPA has inspected 8 plants in the state, 13 inspections in total. Every plant links to its profile, and every case to its report on EPA's ECHO site.

All plants in Montana →Montana NPDES permits →EPA enforcement nationwide →Analysis: enforcement since 2020 →

Recent enforcement actions in Montana

The 10 most recent formal EPA enforcement cases naming wastewater treatment plants in Montana, by latest case status date. Source: EPA ICIS-FE&C civil enforcement cases and ICIS compliance inspections, via ECHO.
Plant	Date	Type	Law section	Outcome	Penalty	Source
Town Of Poplar WTP Poplar	Apr 2026 · FY2019	Administrative order	NPDES Discharge without a Permit	Final Order No Penalty	—	ECHO 08-2019-0048
EPA's description: “AO issued to cease unpermitted discharge.”
City Of Missoula WWTF No Exposure Missoula	Oct 2025 · FY2025	Administrative order	NPDES Permit Violations	Final Order With Penalty	$1,400	ECHO 07-2025-0094
EPA's description: “Facility generates Class A biosolids for public sale. The biosolids did not meet the requirements of 503. The facility is using the improper methods. The biosolids could not be verified for metals or…”
City Of Helena WWTP Helena	Jul 2022 · FY2021	Administrative order	NPDES Permit Violations	Final Order With Penalty	$20,000	ECHO 08-2021-0211
EPA's description: “The Pretreatment Regulations apply to publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) and to industrial users discharging pollutants to POTWs from non-domestic sources. The Pretreatment Regulations prohibit…”
City Of Helena WWTP Helena	Jun 2022 · FY2021	Administrative order	Effluent Limitations - NPDES Toxic & Pretreatment Effluent Standards	Final Order No Penalty	—	ECHO 08-2021-0203
EPA's description: “The Pretreatment Regulations apply to publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) and to industrial users discharging pollutants to POTWs from non-domestic sources. The Pretreatment Regulations prohibit…”
Town Of Poplar WTP Poplar	May 2022 · FY2015	Administrative order	NPDES Discharge without a Permit	Final Order No Penalty	—	ECHO 08-2015-0059
EPA's description: “On October 9, 2014, the EPA was notified by the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes (Tribes) of a sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) from the Poplar waste water treatment plant?s (WWTP) collection system that…”
City Of Great Falls WWTP Great Falls	Jan 2022 · FY2008	Judicial case	Effluent Limitations - NPDES Toxic & Pretreatment Effluent Standards	Final Order With Penalty	$645,000	ECHO 08-2008-0232
EPA's description: “The City of Great Falls, Montana has agreed through a consent decree to control wastewater discharges that generate high levels of toxic gas in the City?s sewer system. The City has also agreed to…”
Northern Cheyenne Utility Commission Wastewater Treatment Plant Lame Deer	Nov 2021 · FY2016	Judicial case	NPDES Discharge without a Permit	Final Order Entered	$1,500	ECHO 08-2016-0073
EPA's description: “Consent decree entered on 11/8/2021. CV 21-94-BLG-SPW-TJC”
City Of Bozeman WWTP Bozeman	Jun 2021 · FY2016	Administrative order	Effluent Limitations - NPDES Toxic & Pretreatment Effluent Standards	Final Order No Penalty	—	ECHO 08-2016-0002
EPA's description: “EPA NPDES inspectors conducted a pretreatment compliance inspection (PCI) at the Bozeman Wastewater Treatment Plant on September 8-9, 2014. Several deficiencies and associated corrective actions were…”
Ronan City WWTF Ronan	Sep 2019 · FY2019	Administrative order	NPDES Permit Violations	Final Order Issued	—	ECHO 08-2019-0119
EPA's description: “Order requires the Respondent to obtain NPDES permit authorization for wastewater discharges from the wastewater treatment facility.”
Lodge Grass, Town Of WWTF Lodge Grass	Aug 2019 · FY2019	Administrative order	NPDES Permit Violations	Final Order No Penalty	—	ECHO 08-2019-0065
EPA's description: “The Town failed to report discharge monitoring data to the EPA for periods in 2017 through 2019.”

Full case histories, milestones, violation types and EPA's complete case summaries for every plant are shown with a free Klarifi account. Create one →

Largest penalties in Montana

The 7 largest penalties assessed in EPA enforcement cases naming wastewater treatment plants in Montana, with the value of the compliance actions each case required. Source: EPA ICIS-FE&C civil enforcement cases and ICIS compliance inspections, via ECHO.
#	Plant	Date	Type	Outcome	Penalty	Compliance actions	Source
1	City Of Great Falls WWTP Great Falls	Jan 2022 · FY2008	Judicial case	Final Order With Penalty	$645,000	$2.8M	ECHO 08-2008-0232
2	City Of Polson WWTP Polson	Apr 2014 · FY2012	Administrative order	Litigated With Penalty	$40,000	$2,500	ECHO 08-2012-0141
3	City Of Helena WWTP Helena	Jul 2022 · FY2021	Administrative order	Final Order With Penalty	$20,000	—	ECHO 08-2021-0211
4	Northern Cheyenne Utility Commission Wastewater Treatment Plant Lame Deer	Nov 2021 · FY2016	Judicial case	Final Order Entered	$1,500	—	ECHO 08-2016-0073
5	City Of Missoula WWTF No Exposure Missoula	Oct 2025 · FY2025	Administrative order	Final Order With Penalty	$1,400	—	ECHO 07-2025-0094
6	City Of Billings Wastewater Treatment Plant Billings	Aug 2009 · FY2009	Administrative order	Final Order With Penalty	$900	$1,000	ECHO 08-2009-0127
7	Bozeman Water Treatment Plant Bozeman	Apr 2009 · FY2009	Administrative order	Final Order With Penalty	$525	$1,000	ECHO 08-2009-0084

Actions by fiscal year

Fiscal year	Formal actions	Penalties
FY2017	1	—
FY2018	0	—
FY2019	4	—
FY2020	0	—
FY2021	2	$20,000
FY2022	0	—
FY2023	0	—
FY2024	0	—
FY2025	1	$1,400
FY2026	0	—

EPA fiscal years run from 1 October to 30 September. The current year is partial.

EPA enforcement in Montana: questions

Sources and methodology

Flow, permit and violation figures come from the EPA's ICIS-NPDES discharge monitoring records. Population served comes from the Clean Watersheds Needs Survey 2022. Treatment structures are identified by Klarifi's review of aerial imagery, and capital improvement projects are extracted from published municipal budget documents. Violations are counted over the last three years of monitoring reports.

Data refreshed September 17, 2026.

Enforcement data: EPA ICIS-FE&C civil enforcement cases and ICIS compliance inspections, via ECHO. Penalties are the amounts assessed or agreed in each case as EPA records them. Latest case status in this data: Apr 2026.

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