BEW CITY – The Rockland Water Study Committee, comprised of members of the Rockland Water Coalition, and other environmental groups and concerned citizens are asking that before the state Public Service Commission rules on whether to allow the sale of the county’s public water supply from one French-owned company to another, that the state agency should first conduct a study to determine which would better serve the public interest by continuing to allow private management of Rockland’s water by Veolia Environnement S.A., or re-municipalizing it, so a county public authority manages the county’s water.
The PSC will hold a virtual public hearing on Wednesday, November 17, at 6 p.m. to gather public input on a controversial proposal (PSC Case 21-W-0338) to sell the private, for-profit company that manages Rockland County’s water, Suez Water NY, a subsidiary of a French multinational company, to another French multinational, Veolia Environnement S.A.
Rockland County citizen groups and together with some elected officials are questioning the sale on the grounds it could hurt the public interest. They cite high ratepayer costs Suez charges Rockland customers among the highest water rates in New York State, bad service, including extended service interruptions, brown water, foul odors, and low pressure resulting in higher water cost and greater loss of life in major fires, including at a nursing home in Spring Valley in March 2021, lack of transparency, lack of commitment to conservation and stewardship, and other problems under the Suez management.
There are 27 public authorities in the state, plus about a thousand local water departments or districts. According to the State Department of Public Service, 96 percent of New Yorkers have municipal water service.
Earlier this month, Governor Hochul signed legislation establishing two new public water authorities in Nassau County, re-municipalizing water systems previously owned and operated by the private, for-profit company New York American Water. The new authorities were created in the wake of the November 2, 2021 election, in which voters overwhelmingly approved a Constitutional right to water in the state. Prior to the enacting the legislation creating new Nassau water authorities, the State Department of Public Service conducted a feasibility study.
A petition signed by more than 1,000 Rockland residents asks Governor Hochul and other elected officials to authorize a similar feasibility study for Rockland County, to determine whether it would be better for Rockland to establish a public authority and municipalize its water as Nassau did, or whether the PSC should approve the sale of Suez and allow Veolia to manage the county’s water.
