A. The business license of any industrial/commercial discharger who is found to have violated an administrative order to comply with any provision of this chapter, NPDES permit or city permit and the orders, rules, regulations and permits under this chapter may be revoked.
B. The industrial/commercial user may also be fined a sum for each offense.
C. Each violation shall be considered a separate and distance offense, and each day on which a violation shall occur or continue shall be deemed a separate and distance offense. In addition to the penalties provided in this chapter, the city may recover reasonable attorneys’ fees, court costs, court reporters’ fees and other expenses of litigation by appropriate suit at law against the person found to have violated this chapter, NPDES permit, city permit or the orders, rules, regulations and permits issued under this chapter.
D. Persons who continue to violate any provision of this chapter shall be liable to the city for a maximum civil penalty of twenty five thousand dollars ($25,000.00) but not less than three thousand dollars ($3,000.00) per violation per day. In the case of a monthly or other long-term average discharge limit, penalties shall accrue for each day during the period of the violation.
E. In determining the amount of civil liability, the court shall take into account all relevant circumstances, including, but not limited to, the extent of harm caused by the violation, the magnitude and duration of the violation, any economic benefit gained through the discharger’s violation, corrective actions by the discharger, the compliance history of the discharger, and any factor as justice requires.
F. Filing a suit for civil penalties shall not be a bar against, or a prerequisite for taking any other action against a discharger. The city may institute further legal action to collect such penalties in the event that the violator of this chapter fails or refuses to pay the penalty within thirty (30) days from the date that it has been assessed. (Ord. 229 § 3, 2005)