Today, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a complaint against both the city and the State of Alaska on the EPA’s behalf, charging that the city repeatedly violated the Clean Water Act between 2004 and 2010.

The complaint lists over 4,800 violations. The DOJ alleges that the city frequently exceeded its discharge permit and released pollutants, including partially treated sewage, into Unalaska Bay. According to the complaint, the city could be held liable for over a hundred million dollars -- up to $37,500 per violation per day.

The city is right now in the process of securing funding for a new wastewater treatment plant in order to comply with federal regulations. While the current plant is only 11 years old, it doesn’t conduct secondary treatment of wastewater. Unalaska Mayor Shirley Marquardt says that at the time of construction, that plant was covered by an amendment to the Clean Water Act that set more relaxed requirements for some Alaskan villages. However, she says that when the city applied for a new discharge permit in 2004, they did not receive another waiver.

“Our surprise was that when the permitting responsibility for Unalaska’s treatment permit was transferred from EPA to the State of Alaska that EPA made very strong signals that the only wastewater permits that DEC could allow could be for secondary treatment, which of course completely upends this over-thirty-year policy,” says Marquardt.

The EPA would not discuss pending litigation. The DOJ could not be immediately reached for comment.

UPDATE: The City of Unalaska has issued a statement in response to the complaint. Read it here.