Elkhart board finds multiple permit violations, levies fines after company responses

Elkhart City’s Board of Public Works and Utilities voted Feb. 3 to find multiple industrial wastewater permit holders in violation of discharge requirements and to assess penalties ranging from $200 to $4,500.

The board voted after staff summarized monitoring and compliance findings and allowed affected companies to respond. "They were inadvertently overlooked, and this was an honest oversight during a period of change," Rebecca Robbins, human resources for Bunnell Aluminum, said, describing missed sampling after a new permit went into effect in late October. Robbins noted corrective steps including a new lab checklist, an independent lab review and a nearly $200,000 flow-meter installation to improve continuous monitoring.

Why this matters: enforcement actions impose financial penalties and require companies to correct monitoring and reporting practices that protect the wastewater system and receiving waters.

What the board decided - Voyant Beauty (Elkhart Home Care): staff said the company failed to submit required phosphorus results for November 2025 at two manholes; the board approved a $200 penalty. (Staff presentation; no company representative present.) - Elkhart County Regional Sewer District: staff said required pH results were missing at north and south lift stations; the board approved a $200 penalty. - Bunnell Aluminum: staff recommended a $300 penalty for missing ammonia, phosphorus and CBOD-5 sampling under a new permit. Bunnell representatives told the board the missed parameters were the result of a permit transition; the company described steps taken to improve compliance. The board approved a $300 finding on one violation and separately chose not to assess a penalty on a related second item (penalty set to $0) after discussion of the transition circumstances. - Bimbo Bakeries: staff reported two November grab-sample exceedances that constituted second and third violations within a 12-month rolling period and recommended a $4,500 penalty. Steve Brown, Public Works and Utilities, said staff are "working with the bakery on a consent order" and expect to bring the consent order to the board in March; the board approved the penalty. - Lippert Components (plant #83): staff reported a contract-lab verification result of 1.831 mg/L for zinc versus a monthly-average limit of 1.24 mg/L (about 47.6% over); the board approved a $500 penalty. - McDowell Enterprises: pretreatment staff reported exceedances for zinc and nickel at both end-of-pipe and end-of-process monitoring locations; the board approved a recommended $2,000 penalty. Separately, McDowell submitted a November self-monitoring report 11 days late; the board approved a $250 penalty for the late submittal.

Company responses and board discussion Bunnell’s representatives emphasized the timing of a new permit and the steps they took once notified, including relabeling sampling points to match the city's nomenclature and adding third-party lab oversight. "We installed the new flow meter at a cost of nearly $200,000," Rebecca Robbins said, citing a major company investment to improve compliance.

Board members said they understood permit-transition issues can cause confusion but stressed the importance of timely sampling and reporting. Assistant City Attorney Maggie Marnoka reminded the board that the enforcement response plan is a recommendation and that deviations should be explained on the record.

Next steps Affected companies are expected to follow the corrective actions described in the hearing record; staff indicated at least one consent-order negotiation (Bimbo Bakeries) will return to the board in March.

Provenance: Staff presentations and board votes on violations and penalties are recorded throughout the meeting (topic introduction SEG 658; discussion and company response SEG 743–808; motions and votes through SEG 969).