The City of Lytton in Sac County has been ordered to pay $2,000 in penalties by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for improper discharges from the community’s wastewater system. According to an administrative consent order issued earlier this week, the city’s effluent contained chlorides in excess of its permitted levels that flowed into the West Fork Camp Creek between May 2022 and May 2025. DNR staff noted at least 33 permit violations during that three-year period. In addition to the $2,000 administrative penalty, the DNR ordered the City of Lytton to cease all illegal discharges, submit a compliance plan within 90 days that identifies how the city will correct the violations, and develop a schedule for when those changes will be implemented. This is a common problem in Iowa’s rural communities, as decades-old infrastructure can no longer meet the stringent environmental requirements of state and federal regulators, and the high cost of building a new system puts significant pressure on property owners, who foot the bill through their taxes.
