EPA enforcement actions against wastewater plants in Nebraska
37 formal actions at 29 of 173 plants · $1.1M in penalties · 5 EPA inspections
EPA's enforcement records list 37 formal civil enforcement cases naming publicly owned wastewater treatment plants in Nebraska, 10 of them since fiscal year 2020. The cases involve 29 of the state's 173 plants, with $1.1 million in penalties assessed. The most common ground is npdes permit violations (22 cases). EPA has inspected 5 plants in the state, 5 inspections in total. Every plant links to its profile, and every case to its report on EPA's ECHO site.
Recent enforcement actions in Nebraska
| Plant | Date | Type | Law section | Outcome | Penalty | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atkinson Wastewater Treatment Atkinson | May 2025 · FY2020 | Administrative order | Effluent Limitations - NPDES Toxic & Pretreatment Effluent Standards | Final Order No Penalty | — | ECHO 07-2020-0083 |
| Humboldt Wastewater Treatment Facility Humboldt | Aug 2024 · FY2024 | Administrative order | NPDES Permit Violations | Final Order Issued | — | ECHO 07-2024-0122 |
| EPA's description: “Failure to meet NPDES permit requirements.” | ||||||
| Wood River Wastewater Treatment Facility Wood River | Feb 2024 · FY2022 | Administrative order | NPDES Permit Violations | Final Order No Penalty | — | ECHO 07-2022-0063 |
| EPA's description: “Facility agreed to compliance order to correct violations of NPDES permit” | ||||||
| North Bend Wastewater Treatment Facility North Bend | Nov 2023 · FY2023 | Administrative order | NPDES Permit Violations | Final Order Issued | — | ECHO 07-2023-0139 |
| EPA's description: “Facility failed to meet permit effluent limits, maintain emergency power, perform maintenance and exceeded its throughput limits.” | ||||||
| Holdrege Wastewater Treatment Holdrege | Aug 2023 · FY2023 | Administrative order | NPDES Permit Violations | Final Order No Penalty | — | ECHO 07-2023-0131 |
| EPA's description: “NPDES permit violations, inoperable UV disinfection system, bypasses and influent samples not properly cooled.” | ||||||
| Fremont Wastewater Treatment Fremont | Oct 2022 · FY2022 | Administrative order | NPDES Permit Violations | Final Order With Penalty | $26,500 | ECHO 07-2022-0032 |
| EPA's description: “Order to address CWA 402 NPDES permit violations with the City?s Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4).” | ||||||
| Randolph Wastewater Treatment Facility Randolph | Aug 2022 · FY2021 | Administrative order | NPDES Permit Violations | Final Order No Penalty | — | ECHO 07-2021-0059 |
| EPA's description: “The City of Randolph reported numerous violations of their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit for the Wastewater Treatment Facility.” | ||||||
| Broken Bow Wastewater Treatment Facility Broken Bow | Jan 2022 · FY2020 | Administrative order | NPDES Permit Violations | Final Order No Penalty | — | ECHO 07-2020-2012 |
| Stuart Wastewater Treatment Facility Stuart | Jan 2021 · FY2020 | Administrative order | Sewage Sludge Disposal | Final Order With Penalty | $2,700 | ECHO 07-2020-0179 |
| EPA's description: “Respondent failed to comply with Section 405 of the CWA, 33 U.S.C.345, and/or40 C.F.R, 503, Standards for the Use or Disposal of Sewage Sludge, which limit the disposal of sewage sludge.” | ||||||
| Broken Bow Wastewater Treatment Facility Broken Bow | Apr 2020 · FY2020 | Administrative order | NPDES Permit Violations | Final Order With Penalty | $6,500 | ECHO 07-2020-0055 |
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 Nebraska
| # | Plant | Date | Type | Outcome | Penalty | Compliance actions | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wakefield Wastewater Treatment Wakefield | Jun 2007 · FY2004 | Judicial case | Final Order With Penalty | $1.1M | $16M | ECHO 07-2004-0238 |
| 2 | Fremont Wastewater Treatment Fremont | Oct 2022 · FY2022 | Administrative order | Final Order With Penalty | $26,500 | — | ECHO 07-2022-0032 |
| 3 | City Of Columbus - Wastewater Treatment Facility Columbus | May 2010 · FY2010 | Administrative order | Final Order With Penalty | $21,124 | $500 | ECHO 07-2010-0158 |
| 4 | Wakefield Wastewater Treatment Wakefield | May 2010 · FY2004 | Judicial case | Final Order With Penalty | $18,600 | $2,000 | ECHO 07-2004-0254 |
| 5 | Broken Bow Wastewater Treatment Facility Broken Bow | Apr 2020 · FY2020 | Administrative order | Final Order With Penalty | $6,500 | — | ECHO 07-2020-0055 |
| 6 | Cozad WWTF Cozad | Sep 2019 · FY2019 | Administrative order | Final Order With Penalty | $6,500 | — | ECHO 07-2019-0217 |
| 7 | Stuart Wastewater Treatment Facility Stuart | Jan 2021 · FY2020 | Administrative order | Final Order With Penalty | $2,700 | — | ECHO 07-2020-0179 |
Actions by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Formal actions | Penalties |
|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | 0 | — |
| FY2018 | 1 | — |
| FY2019 | 1 | $6,500 |
| FY2020 | 4 | $9,200 |
| FY2021 | 1 | — |
| FY2022 | 2 | $26,500 |
| FY2023 | 2 | — |
| FY2024 | 1 | — |
| FY2025 | 0 | — |
| FY2026 | 0 | — |
EPA fiscal years run from 1 October to 30 September. The current year is partial.
EPA enforcement in Nebraska: 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: May 2025.