GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- State regulators have slapped Grand Rapids with a third violation notice for continuing construction on their $76.2 million biodigester without proper permitting.

The latest violation, issued July 10 by the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, again calls on the city to obtain an air pollution permit that was needed before construction began in spring 2018.

City officials can contest the violation, as they did with the first one in June 2018 and again with the second in November 2018. Beyond the violation notices, EGLE has not taken further enforcement action.

“We have acknowledged receipt of the notice and have requested to meet with representatives from EGLE’s Air Quality Division to work to resolve any outstanding matters,” city spokesperson Amy Snow-Buckner told MLive in response to the latest violation.

The permit is required by EGLE for any construction that is a potential source of air pollution. In the application, an organization details the construction, expected emissions and how it plans to control them.

Michigan law allows EGLE to issue a fine of up to $10,000 for each day a violation continues. EGLE spokesperson Scott Dean did not immediately return calls for further comment.

The city started construction on its biodigester, which will turn wastewater from businesses like Founders Brewing Co. into renewable energy, in spring 2018.

It wasn’t until the following spring that city officials turned in a finalized air permit application. The application remains under review, and EGLE has yet to issue a permit.

City officials previously said they expect the permit to be approved sometime this month and that the project is about 45 percent constructed.

MLive/The Grand Rapids Press previously reported that wastewater plant officials told regulators after the second violation they were continuing construction regardless because of their project timelines.

Top city officials were unaware the city had failed to secure proper permitting on the multi-million-dollar project for more than half a year, MLive found.

“How did we get to this point anyway?” Deputy City Manager Eric DeLong wrote in a report Feb. 12. “Where were the consultants and why did we not file the permit application? How did we miss that?”

The biodigester will offset the amount of concentrated waste sent to the wastewater plant, which city officials say is reaching capacity because of Grand Rapids’ growth.

Rather than expand the plant at 1300 Market Ave. SW, the city opted to build the biodigester because it was cheaper and had “green” benefits, such as generating electricity.

A biodigester uses bacteria to break down organic waste, such as food scraps. The byproduct is called biogas, which is largely methane and can be captured and cleaned as natural gas.

The city plans to sell the renewable natural gas to DTE Energy for a projected revenue of “more than $4 million” a year.

The permitting issue is only one of several problems city officials have faced on the project.

Since getting the go-ahead in early 2017, the project has more than doubled in cost and has been delayed multiple times.

Initially, the city estimated the project would be complete by 2018 at a cost of $30 million. It is now slated for full operation by July 2020 at a price tag of $76.2 million.

City commissioners have approved about $69.4 million in expenditures. The remaining $6.8 million in equipment installation costs remain the only variable to the project’s final cost, city officials said.

City leaders pointed at construction cost increases, largely in steel and fabrication prices, as the reason for the increase. Their figures leave about $8.68 million in unaccounted overages.

The project is financed through the sewer system fund and revenue bonds. Because of the rising costs, sewer customers won’t get nearly the rate decrease the city previously touted.

City officials say natural gas sale revenues will help offset any negative impacts on the sewer fund.