PORTAGE | The Water Reclamation Board approved an agreement with Advanced Waste Services on Wednesday, which will lead to the company better monitoring its waste before disposing of it in the city's sewer system.

Board attorney Ken Elwood said about a year ago the city detected the industrial waste company was dumping a soapy substance into the sanitary sewer system that changed the normal process of the sewer plant's operations.

The company was cited several times for the violation and began negotiations with the city to prevent the discharges.

"It started somewhat contentious," said Elwood, who added that the two parties "stepped back" and began negotiations.

The company accrued some $51,000 in fines from January 2008 through June 24. Initially the city proposed settling for $20,750 in fines and the company counter-offered to pay $18,250 in fines.

Elwood said the city agreed to accept a lower dollar amount of fines to avoid costs in defending the action if it went to court and because the letters of violation were based on a tiered approach, meaning one bad discharge could have resulted in multiple violations and fines.

The newest proposed agreement will settle on the company paying $20,750 in fines accrued from Jan. 1, 2008, to the present. The company also will pay all monitoring fees, totaling $14,798 and all surveillance fees totaling $25,150. The total financial agreement is $60,698.

But Elwood said the company, which is at 5625 Old Porter Road, adjacent to the sanitary sewer plant, has agreed to a better testing procedure of waste before it is discharged into the Portage system to prevent the introduction of unacceptable materials.