Pennsylvania community halts largest sewer privatisation deal in US history

[cbabe]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/08/pennsylvania-water-sewer-system-privatisation-fails

Pennsylvania community halts largest sewer privatisation deal in US history

A community in Pennsylvania has stopped the privatisation of its public water and sewer system, scuppering a corporate takeover that residents feared would have led to higher bills.

A $1.1bn bid by Aqua for the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority (BCWSA) system would have been the largest sewer privatisation deal in American history. The company’s bid for the water service has already failed, but now the county commissioners have shut the door completely after siding with residents who opposed privatisation.

It’s a major victory for local and national campaigners opposed to the predatory takeover of public services like water and sewerage, as a growing number – like in Jackson, Mississippi – are buckling under climate shocks after years of neglect, institutional racism and underinvestment.

“Following years of lobbying, corporate interests have passed state laws that grease the wheels on privatisation – at the expense of households and local businesses who pick up the tab of their greed,” said Mary Grant, the right to water campaign director at Food and Water Watch (FWW), who called the Bucks victory a “rallying cry”.

“Corporate interests now seek to exploit the devastation in Black and brown communities like Baltimore and Jackson. [But] privatisation would exacerbate the harm by extracting resources and driving up water bills for communities already in an affordability crisis,” Grant said.

Local circumstances differ, but the privatisation playbook is often the same.

…more…

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

1. Power to the people!

[FakeNoose]

2. Oh my god, it would have been a major mistake

How did that horrid proposal ever get that far?

[enough]

3. A lot of communities find running local sewer and water facilities to be very complex and

very expensive. It can be attractive to turn these whole operations over to corporations and free local government of all the problems. Of course the problems will come back around.

[Cheezoholic]

4. So now they're privatising our shit?

This country is headed down the crapper if we don't do something now.
'Pun entirely intended.

[2naSalit]

8. Been going on...

For at least half a century. Public works in municipalities used to be owned/operated by the local governments. Same as the roads and public schools. The sales really picked up after the 1980s.

[Diamond_Dog]

5. Privatize profit, socialize risk and cost.

It’s the American way ….

[hibbing]

15. American capitalism at its best n/t

[mopinko]

6. they feared it would lead to higher prices? no, they f'ing knew it would.

and anyone w 4 connected neurons in this day and age knows not only that, but that this crap is destroying the planet.

[2naSalit]

9. +1

[keithbvadu2]

7. It's an ideal business model::: a captive market and laws/contracts written to guarantee profit.

It's an ideal business model::: a captive market and laws/contracts written to guarantee profit.

[2naSalit]

10. Isn't that what...

The fossil fuels industry did to the state earlier?

[Traildogbob]

11. Two words come to mind

Jackson Mississippi. Good on “You the People”.
Standing up to privatization. Now elect the Gov that will work for you, not some hollow billionaire fake ass doctor.

[yaesu]

12. it would have led to higher bills, crappy service and the whole system needing a rebuild by tax

payers in 10 years.

[Martin68]

13. Very wise decision. Quality control and maintenance start going down from day one of privatization.

they know the federal government will foot the bill when the whole system goes south. We've seen it happen with the privatization of the water utilities and phone service. The Koch Bros put millions into local privatization initiatives, and to lobby against government funded internet, mass transit, and other initiatives.

[SWBTATTReg]

14. I find this ridiculous to privatize public utilities. For literally decades and longer, cities and

private citizens have put in tons of work and money into these systems, and thus, should, if something is privatized, receive some of the proceeds from a sale of these so called valuable assets. These systems can cost literally billions of dollars, the infrastructure alone to transport the waste products to treatment facilities and/or to dump the treated waste into appropriate venues are alone, worth billions of dollars. For a city or state or county to dispose of these facilities willy-nilly is reckless. If anything goes private, the citizens of that district should have an abundance of input into the process, after all, it was our tax dollars that put these facilities in place.

[live love laugh]

16. America for $ale ... by Republicans of course.