Activist group accuses Peoples of trying to privatize PWSA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
An activist group is petitioning against what it calls a privatization proposal for the municipal Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority.
The Our Water Campaign, a coalition affiliated with the Pittsburgh United nonprofit, announced the signature-gathering effort Wednesday outside Peoples Natural Gas headquarters on the North Shore. The gas utility has said it is exploring whether it can partner with PWSA, which is rebounding from repeated service failures and years of lackluster upkeep.
“Private corporations will always put profits over people,” said Sara Innamorato of Upper Lawrenceville, a state House Democratic nominee in the November general election. She was among several speakers — including city Controller Michael Lamb — who appeared at the Our Water Campaign news conference.
About 40 people showed up, at least two dozen supporting the cause. Campaign leaders said they met with Peoples about the company’s vision for PWSA. They said the pitch appears to be a privatization arrangement under which Peoples could lease and then own water distribution infrastructure, with the city receiving an eventual buyback option.
Peoples spokesman Barry Kukovich has said the company doesn’t want to buy PWSA. In a statement Wednesday, he said the company remains “completely open to communications with [Our Water] in the weeks and months ahead.”
“Most definitely we are not seeking to privatize the PWSA but to propose a partnership,” Mr. Kukovich said in a statement. “As we continue to develop this initiative, we hope we can satisfy everyone’s issues and do our part to develop a clean and affordable water system.
“In the next few weeks, when all the details have been finalized, we will be able to share all the specific details,” he added.
Peoples has said crews could streamline infrastructure work by tackling gas and water line improvements simultaneously. The company also is weighing whether to pursue a new treatment plant on the Allegheny River that could send clean water into the PWSA service area.
Absent a partnership with the authority, Peoples could develop a parallel network of water distribution pipes and compete with PWSA for customers, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto has said. If the city decides to seek a private-sector partner for PWSA, he has pledged an open, transparent process for soliciting proposals. The mayor has vowed to maintain public ownership of the water infrastructure.
PWSA is already upgrading the city-owned water system, fed by an aged treatment plant on the Allegheny near Aspinwall. The authority counts nearly $1 billion in debt.