Clean Water Act discharge permit · NPDES MT0000281
WESTERN SUGAR COOPERATIVE, Billings, MT: NPDES MT0000281 discharge permit, effluent exceedances, inspections, penalties
- Administratively continuedPermit status
- MajorDischarger class
- 14Pollutants under a numeric limit
- 10Pollutants with an effluent exceedance
WESTERN SUGAR COOPERATIVE holds NPDES permit MT0000281, which discharges to Yellowstone River. EPA’s file records it issued November 24, 1998 and expiring October 31, 2003. The status and dates are as EPA’s permit file stood when Velarion loaded it (September 15, 2026); EPA’s free Detailed Facility Report on ECHO carries the permit’s current standing.
Identity
| Facility as filed | WESTERN SUGAR COOPERATIVE |
|---|---|
| Permittee as filed | WESTERN SUGAR COOPERATIVE |
| NPDES ID | MT0000281 |
| Permit status | Administratively continued (past its expiration date and still in force until reissued) |
| Permit type | Individual permit |
| Discharger class | Major discharger |
| Facility type | Not a publicly owned treatment works |
| Issued | November 24, 1998 |
| Expiration date | October 31, 2003 |
| Address | Billings, MT 59101 |
| Receiving water | YELLOWSTONE RIVER |
| Subwatershed | Yellowstone River-Billings (HUC 100700041006) |
Cited to the EPA ICIS-NPDES permit file (ECHO download).
Effluent limits and exceedances
- 36Pollutants on file
- 14Under a numeric limit
- 34With a violation of any kind
- 10With an effluent exceedance
An effluent exceedance is a discharge monitoring report value over the permit’s numeric limit (EPA’s violation code E90). A violation of any kind also counts a report not filed. Each row is EPA’s own count for that pollutant.
| Pollutant or measure | Limits | Violations, any kind | Effluent exceedances | Latest exceedance | Largest exceedance, as filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrogen, ammonia total [as N] | 11 | 245 | 198 | April 30, 2026 | 1,971% over the limit |
| Specific conductance | 10 | 126 | 98 | April 30, 2026 | 936% over the limit |
| Coliform, fecal general | 0 | 50 | 39 | December 31, 2025 | 99,999% over the limit |
| E. coli, MTEC-MF | 0 | 33 | 22 | September 30, 2025 | 1,467% over the limit |
| Chlorine, total residual | 0 | 37 | 11 | February 28, 2026 | 7,326,216% over the limit |
| Temperature, water deg. fahrenheit | 9 | 32 | 5 | September 30, 2017 | 12% over the limit |
| BOD, 5-day, 20 deg. C | 10 | 25 | 5 | January 31, 2013 | 768% over the limit |
| Pass/Fail Static Renewal 96Hr Acute Pimephales Promelas | 1 | 7 | 3 | December 31, 2020 | |
| pH | 4 | 44 | 2 | October 31, 2005 | |
| Solids, total suspended | 7 | 45 | 1 | January 31, 2011 | 17% over the limit |
| Iron, dissolved [as Fe] | 10 | 46 | 0 | ||
| Flow rate | 0 | 30 | 0 | ||
| Nitrogen, Kjeldahl, total [as N] | 0 | 22 | 0 | ||
| Water level at sample collection time | 10 | 21 | 0 | ||
| Phosphorus, total [as P] | 0 | 20 | 0 | ||
| Redox [oxidation reduction potential] | 0 | 18 | 0 | ||
| Temperature, water deg. centigrade | 0 | 17 | 0 | ||
| Arsenic, dissolved [as As] | 0 | 16 | 0 | ||
| Lead, dissolved [as Pb] | 0 | 16 | 0 | ||
| Selenium, dissolved [as Se] | 0 | 16 | 0 | ||
| Mercury, dissolved [as Hg] | 0 | 16 | 0 | ||
| Nitrite + Nitrate total [as N] | 3 | 10 | 0 | ||
| Hardness, total [as CaCO3] | 0 | 10 | 0 | ||
| Solids, total dissolved [TDS] | 0 | 10 | 0 | ||
| Oil and grease visual | 0 | 10 | 0 | ||
| Pass/Fail Static Renewal 48Hr Acute Ceriodaphnia dubia | 2 | 8 | 0 | ||
| Oil and grease, hexane extr method | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
| Selenium, total recoverable | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Pass/Fail Static Renewal 48Hr Acute Pimephales promelas | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Oxidants, total residual | 3 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Arsenic, total recoverable | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Iron, total recoverable | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Lead, total recoverable | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Mercury, total recoverable | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Flow, in conduit or thru treatment plant | 6 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Chemical Oxygen Demand [COD] | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Cited to the EPA ICIS-NPDES limits and effluent violations files (ECHO download); up to 60 rows shown, most exceedances first.
Inspections, violations and enforcement
- 5Single-event violations
| Date | What EPA recorded | Agency |
|---|---|---|
| August 23, 2023 | Reporting Violations - Improper/ Incorrect Reporting | ST6 |
| January 26, 2021 | Reporting Violations - Improper/ Incorrect Reporting | ST6 |
| October 4, 2018 | Reporting Violations - Failure to submit required report (non-DMR non-pretreatment) | ST6 |
| October 12, 2017 | Monitoring Violations - Invalid/Unrepresentative Sample | ST6 |
| October 12, 2017 | Reporting Violations - Improper/ Incorrect Reporting | ST6 |
Velarion’s copy of EPA’s ICIS-NPDES files does not include the inspections, formal enforcement actions and informal enforcement actions files, so this page shows none of them. EPA’s free Detailed Facility Report on ECHO lists this permit’s inspections, enforcement actions and penalties.
Cited to the EPA ICIS-NPDES violation, inspection and enforcement files (ECHO download); up to 50 rows of each shown, newest first.
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Figures from EPA’s ICIS-NPDES download, loaded September 15, 2026.