City opposes receivership
Costa has yet to introduce PWSA oversight bill
HARRISBURG — Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto has asked state Rep. Dom Costa to hold off on introducing legislation that would put Pittsburgh’s water and sewer authority under more state oversight. “We have no interest in following Flint,” said Mr. Peduto, a Democrat. “We’ll use every power that we have to make sure that state receivership never happens.”
Mr. Costa, a Democrat from Stanton Heights, did not respond to a call seeking comment, but he appears — at least for now — to have agreed to the mayor’s request. Mr. Costa previously told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he intended to introduce legislation this week that would create a state receivership to oversee PWSA much like appointed overseers have regulated the city’s budgets under state Act 47.
A check of legislative records
shows the Costa bill has not yet been introduced, and the House has adjourned until next month.
PWSA, which has struggled to prevent lead contamination and to rehabilitate its failure-prone water system, will likely have some other state oversight in the coming months. The Republican-controlled House passed a bill this week that requires PWSA to work with the state Public Utility Commission to establish billing rates and a long-term compliance plan to make sure it’s providing safe water.
City officials said they were open to having PUC oversight but feared that if more agencies get involved, local officials could lose control of the water system and, therefore, water quality. They noted that the state of Michigan had oversight over the water system in Flint, when lead levels there rose to alarming rates, drawing national attention.
“My biggest fear about state receivership is that once it happens, they can then be able to sell the water — PWSA — to the highest bidder with just an approval of the PUC, which serves under the state,” Mr. Peduto said.
He noted that PWSA already falls under the oversight of the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Environmental Protection. A consent order between DEP and PWSA requires the authority to replace a total of 1,341 lead service lines by June 30, 2018, among other mandates.
Mr. Costa has said in the past that he was willing to work with the city to tweak any legislation regarding the receivership and that he, too, opposes the idea of privatizing PWSA.
“This isn’t to take authority away from the city,” he said. “It is to make sure there is an oversight. The last thing I want is for PWSA to be privatized.”
Mr. Peduto said he has asked Mr. Costa to assemble the legislators from Allegheny County — Democrats and Republicans — so that they can meet together with representatives from the Washington, D.C.-based Infrastructure Management Group, which has been hired to study the water systemand craft options for an overhaul.