DES MOINES – The City of Fort Dodge was fined $10,000 for failing to provide a backup power supply for wells and its water treatment plant, the Iowa DNR said this week.
The order has been appealed.
According to a summary of the report, the City of Fort Dodge failed to meet the conditions of its water supply operation permit by not completing the construction of backup power supplies as required by the Iowa DNR. The City of FOrt Dodge has indicated over a number of years that it was moving forward with the construction project, but then in 2010, asked the Iowa DNR what the “repercussions” would be if the city did not move forward with the project. The city administrator of Fort Dodge stated that the reason for not moving forward was that the city did not want to raise water rates for customers.
To date, the City of Fort Dodge has not provided for dedicated standby power to pump and treat water to meet average day demand, a violation of Iowa code.
