MONTPELIER, Vt. (Legal Newsline) - Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell announced on Wednesday that the Stratton Corporation and the Winhall-Stratton Fire District have been ordered to pay $80,000 for allegedly violating environmental permits.

Stratton and the fire District allegedly violated their 2004 and 2008 permits. Under a consent order, the parties admitted to two separate discharge incidents that violated the conditions of their indirect discharge permits issued by the state.

In December 2004, a discharge associated with 821,000 gallons of secondarily treated effluent was released in an open valve at a wastewater treatment facility that was owned by the Fire District and operated by the Stratton Corporation. Part of the effluent overflowed from a holding tank, causing a discharge into a Winhall River tributary.

A second incident took place on Jan. 7, 2008, when a sewer manhole overflowed at the Stratton Mountain Resort. This caused the release of raw sewage into an unnamed tributary that eventually flows into Stratton Lake.

"Those who receive environmental permits must comply with the terms of those permits," Sorrell said. "Ski resorts hold a special place in Vermont's culture and should be especially aware of the need to protect the Vermont environment that is so critical to their businesses."

A total of $55,000 will go to the state, while another $25,000 will go towards funding a supplemental environmental project, while will involve trail work to mitigate and prevent erosion into the watershed of Middle Brook in Winhall and Stratton.

The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources learned of the incidents through regular inspections. The Stratton Corporation and the Fire District have taken corrective measures at their facilities to address the violations since being notified.