Opinion ID: 769015
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Old Timer Complaint

Text: 3 The District owns and operates a sewage treatment facility on North Clear Creek in Blackhawk, Colorado. The facility treats sanitary sewer waste from communities of Blackhawk and Central City and, pursuant to a permit issued by the Colorado Department of Health, Water Control Division, discharges effluent into North Clear Creek. In 1993, owners of property downstream from the treatment facility sued the District, alleging that the District repeatedly discharged improperly treated sewage effluent into North Clear Creek in violation of its permit. See The Old Timer, Inc. et al. v. Blackhawk-Central City Sanitation District, D. Colo. No. 93-B-249 complaint, Appellant's App. at 61-73 (the Old Timer litigation). The Old Timer complaint lists a series of specific dates, beginning in 1985 and continuing through the date of the complaint, on which it alleges testing revealed effluent containing waste matter in excess of permitted levels. The complaint alleges that the substances contained in the District's effluent, alleged to include suspended solids, fecal coliform bacteria, ammonia, and residual chlorine in excess of its permit limits, constitute pollutants within the meaning of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1362(6). The complaint alleges that the District's conduct in violating and disregarding the permit limitations was knowing, willful and negligent.