A protracted lawsuit could be resolved on Monday, when the Sioux City Council members are expected to approve a settlement concerning past employee actions at the wastewater treatment plant.
According to a city of Sioux City release, the city, Iowa Attorney General's Office and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources have agreed to the city paying a $300,000 civil penalty.
After a decade of negotiation, that amount is considerably lower than the original proposed penalty of $6 million. The Thursday city release said employee “actions were taken without authorization and do not reflect the standards, values or practices of the city today.”
According to the Sioux City Journal, two former city employees in 2015 manipulated chlorine levels to make it appear the city plant was meeting federal regulatory benchmarks.
The agreed upon consent also specifies a schedule for major improvements at the city’s wastewater treatment plant up through the year 2036. The city is working on that $470 million plant updating.
That project will be paid through an increase in wastewater rates paid by Sioux City residents and federal money from the American Rescue Plan funds passed in 2021
The order and settlement will be on the agenda for the city council meeting that occurs at 4 p.m. Monday, December 15, at City Hall.
