Prosecuting Clean Water Act violations in Big Sky, Montana.
Cottonwood v. Big Sky Water & Sewer District & Big Sky Resort
Cottonwood filed a Clean Water Act lawsuit against the Big Sky Water and Sewer District and Boyne USA, Inc. (Big Sky Resort) in 2020. The lawsuit alleges Big Sky Water & Sewer District’s treated sewage lagoons are leaking and the golf course is being over irrigated with the treated sewage. Cottonwood placed dye in the Big Sky sewage lagoons and the Sewer District’s expert found the dye being discharged from a pipe into the river, which confirms that the sewage holding ponds are leaking.
During the April 2022 jury trial, Cottonwood’s expert testified that the sewage ponds leaked more than 20 million gallons into the West Fork of the Gallatin River. The Manager of the Big Sky Water & Sewer District testified that Cottonwood’s expert missed a tab on an excel spreadsheet that shows the Sewer District exported more than 20 million gallons of treated sewage to the Yellowstone Club and Spanish Peaks for disposal. Cottonwood lost the lawsuit.
After the trial, Cottonwood’s expert reviewed the spreadsheets and found the numbers the Manager provided to the jury are not reflected in the data that Cottonwood was given. Cottonwood had asked the Montana DEQ to investigate the Sewer District’s leaking holding ponds for six months before the trial. The day before the trial began, the DEQ closed the investigation because it could not determine whether the ponds were experiencing gross leakage. After the trial, Cottonwood filed a lawsuit against the Montana DEQ for failing to complete an investigation. Cottonwood then deposed the Manager of the Water & Sewer District, during which time he admitted that the export data he provided to the jury had never been recorded. The DEQ then testified that the Manager of the Sewer District did not tell investigators the export data was not recorded.
A representative for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality testified that the Sewer District must repair torn liners. The Sewer District has refused to repair the liners. A district court has ruled Cottonwood can moved forward with its lawsuit against the Montana DEQ for failing to investigate the volume of treated sewage leaking out of the Sewer District’s holding ponds into the Gallatin River.
After Cottonwood placed a tracer dye in the sewage holding ponds, Big Sky Resort used the dyed sewage to irrigate its golf course. The dye was later found being discharged from a drain on the golf course into a tributary of the Gallatin River, which means the golf course is being over irrigated. A jury trial is scheduled for November 2025 in the case.
A moratorium has previously been placed on building in Big Sky because of the leaking sewer ponds. Cottonwood seeks to stop construction in Big Sky to protect the Gallatin River.