Letter to the Editor of The Republican newspaper from Holyoke resident.
Case for Local Sewer Management
There is a proposal on the table for the City of Holyoke to out-source management of our wastewater treatment plant. The only bidder is Kelda Group subsidiary Aquarion. Kelda Group is headquartered out of Bradford, Great Britain. Aquarion’s main offices are in Bridgeport Connecticut. Aquarion was merged into Kelda Group in 2000. Aquarion acquired American Water Works in 2002. Kelda Group now provides services to 211,000 businesses and homes or approximately 677,000 persons. The actual contract for this relationship has not yet been finalized. If the contract fulfills public statements, Aquarion will receive a 20-year contract from Holyoke to manage our wastewater treatment plant. At the end of the contract Holyoke will own all of the assets within Holyoke. Aquarion will be guaranteed compensation adjusted for inflation and any unforseen expenses for the duration of the contract. Holyoke will still set water rates and will presumably cover any deficits if the income fails to meet contract requirements.I have the following problems with this arrangement with Aquarion or any other corporation. Any disputes over the execution of this contract will be argued and possibly litigated by the small City of Holyoke against the much larger entity Kelda Group (or whomever owns their assets at the time of dispute). Disputes might fall under WTO (World Trade Organization Rules), NAFTA or other “free trade” treaties and would likely be settled by an international tribunal. Economically, more money would leave Holyoke than would be the case under local control. The private corporation running our wastewater treatment plant would attempt to maximize their profits at the expense of all else.It is common knowledge that the litigant with the most resources is the litigant most likely to win a court case. Kelda Group is very large now and whomever owns the assets in the future is likely much larger. The state of Connecticut is in dispute this year with Aquarion over Aquarion’s attempt to impose a 14-25% rate increase on its customers in Connecticut. The dispute in Connecticut is as recent as of November.Under NAFTA, “Methanex corporation based in Canada sued the state of California for $1 billion because California passed a law banning a cancer-causing gasoline additive. Methanex Corp, which makes a key ingredient in MTBE, demanded taxpayer compensation because its stock price took a dip after California put the ban in place”. The City of Holyoke would be responsible for covering the costs caused by any change to current wastewater or environmental law.Finally, the more efficient Aquarion is at managing our wastewater treatment plant the more money in the form of profits they will remove from Holyoke. This deal will be an economic drain on Holyoke. Whatever the inefficiencies of a city-run wastewater treatment plant, more of the money would go into the local economy. We have all seen how national and now international chain stores have drained the economic vitality out of our city and region.This is a complicated deal for the City of Holyoke. Let’s keep the deal simple. Continue to keep wastewater treatment as a function of city government.Ken Harstine
56 Nonotuck Street
Holyoke, MA 01040-2666
413-532-4306
k.harstine@ieee.org
