Baldwin County Sewer Service, one of the largest utilities in the county, has sued the city of Gulf Shores after the city council rejected an application to officially sanction its Fort Morgan Wastewater Treatment Plant—and sludge pond—in March.

But there’s much more at stake in this complaint than just a permit for the facility: Baldwin County Sewer Service alleges that the city’s 2011 annexation, which brought the treatment plant into city limits, is invalid.