The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has delivered a strict ultimatum to Mountain Sun Organic & Natural Juices in Dolores.

After reviewing evidence that the juice company persistently violated its wastewater permit this fall, the EPA issued a notice of violation and compliance order to the company on Friday.

The order states that Mountain Sun must immediately limit the organic effluence flowing into the Dolores wastewater treatment plant to under permitted levels, or face a penalty of up to $27,500 per day and possible imprisonment for officials.

In addition, the order provides several deadlines over the next 60 days for Mountain Sun to test its wastewater, conduct an engineering assessment, and submit plans for pretreatment.

Darcy O’Connor, an EPA environmental scientist who met with Mountain Sun and the town of Dolores, said a new pretreatment facility would likely be necessary if Mountain Sun chose to continue processing fruit at its current rate.

In August, the town of Dolores issued a permit allowing the company to emit waste containing up to 375 pounds of biochemical oxygen demand a day. It was the first time the town had attempted to officially restrict the company’s discharges since the business had been established some 20 years ago.

Since the permit was issued, the company has violated it on 26 days, with levels reaching as high as 1,174 pounds. The treated water flows into the Dolores River.

"The idea is that you want to keep those BOD levels down to a certain level to ensure that you are not taking away oxygen that you need for fish," said O’Connor.

The town’s state discharge permit allows it to treat 840 pounds of BOD per day, 80 percent of the plant’s limit, but pretreatment effluence is monitored by the EPA.

"The state does kind of run their own program, but EPA still has jurisdiction over those programs in the state," said O’Connor.

Over the past several weeks, Mountain Sun had been forced to stop processing apples while the EPA made its decision.

The owner of the company, Bill Russell, said this had been detrimental for the business, and that the company was considering relocating.

Mountain Sun is the largest manufacturer in Dolores, and many of its employees are from the town. It operates the largest certified organic apple-farming operation in North America, according to the company’s web site.

The town could apply for grants from the Colorado Economic Development Council to update its ailing sewage system and build a pretreatment facility to accommodate the higher BOD levels, but so far town officials have been hesitant to put up matching funds for these projects.