A corporate takeover won’t fix Trenton’s water woes

There are unacceptable, dangerous problems at Trenton Water Works, from contamination, lead risks, and unbelievably poor communication with city residents about unsafe conditions that threaten public health. But the state government bears some responsibility for this sad state of affairs, and handing over control of operations to a private corporation could make matters worse.

Trenton’s problems are serious, but sadly they are not unusual. We see them across the country, due to the massive decline in government support necessary for routine maintenance and the replacement of aging infrastructure.

What is unusual about Trenton are the political games that have contributed to the crisis. Under the Christie administration, privatization of public services was the goal across the state. But they had extra leverage over Trenton: They had forced Trenton into a stringent arrangement to receive state aid, instituting a wage freeze and requiring state approval of new hires. Given the chronic understaffing at Trenton Water Works, it is not surprising that recent water quality issues are the direct result of low staffing. Some have even suggested that the Christie administration may have starved the Water Works, then dangled a corporate takeover as the only solution.

Trenton’s city leaders have adamantly rejected the idea of selling the publiclyowned system. This is laudable. But last month, the City Council posted a request for proposal (RFP) for the “provision of the operation and administration services for the Trenton Water System.” While that document states that the city rejects privatization, this kind of service contract

can pave the way to full-scale privatization, and it directly requires the private contractor to fill the role of a general manager. Granting private operators any power over the utility is still a form of water privatization, and short-term operations deals like this one typically result in long-term contracts

Bringing in a private corporation—even on a short-term contract basis—brings other problems. Communities across New Jersey have learned the hard way that privatization, often rushed through in a moment of crisis, often leads to a drop in the quality of service, a loss of good local jobs, and an increased financial burden on cash-strapped municipalities.. Our research at Food & Water Watch shows that New Jersey households with private water service pay $230 more per year than those with publicly-owned systems. And corporate control, by design, guarantees a loss of transparency and accountability.

It is not a coincidence that two major cities that have recently dealt with serious lead problems—Flint and Pittsburgh—were relying in part on private contractors and these deals failed to protect public safety. In both cases, the company involved was a French multinational called Veolia, which already has a one-year contract to study Trenton’s water system, one that expressly excludes the city’s biggest issue: water quality.

Trenton Water Works serves the city and surrounding areas, and that’s where the problems should be fixed, in a process that protects public control, prioritizes transparency, and preserves access to safe, healthy water for all. Corporate interests would be all too happy to seize the system to make money for their shareholders. That might work for them, but it would not fix problems for the people of Trenton.

The City Council should resist these corporate overtures and seek to expand its inhouse water expertise. But the real decisionmaker here could be the Murphy administration. If our new governor really wants a ‘stronger and fairer’ New Jersey, he should restore power to local officials to make decisions that will benefit city residents.

Lena Smith is a New Jersey Policy Advocate at Food & Water Watch, a national advocacy organization that fights for safe food and clean, affordable drinking water for all.