The environmental group Tennessee Riverkeeper has filed suit against the Hamilton County Water and Wastewater Treatment Authority (WWTA) over alleged illegal discharges from the Signal Mountain Sewage Treatment Plant.
The suit, filed in Federal Court, seeks an injunction and asks that the WWTA be fined $37,500 for each illegal discharge.
It says the alleged discharges are damaging the waters of the Tennessee River.
Riverkeeper operates in Alabama and Tennessee with a focus on protecting the waters of the Tennessee River. It has about 1,500 members.
The lawsuit comes as WWTA is seeking approval to construct a new sewage treatment plant at Mahan Gap Road in Ooltewah. It has met an outcry of citizen opposition.
The county earlier set aside $45 million for the new plant, which officials said is necessary to support new growth in the rapidly developing Ooltewah area.