{"id":852067,"date":"2022-10-24T11:40:22","date_gmt":"2022-10-24T11:40:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jacobin.com\/2022\/10\/jackson-mississippi-water-crisis-privatization\/"},"modified":"2022-10-24T11:52:06","modified_gmt":"2022-10-24T11:52:06","slug":"privatization-helped-make-jackson-mississippis-water-undrinkable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2022\/10\/24\/privatization-helped-make-jackson-mississippis-water-undrinkable\/","title":{"rendered":"Privatization Helped Make Jackson, Mississippi\u2019s Water Undrinkable"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n\n\n\n

Mississippi is weighing the privatization of Jackson\u2019s water. But parts of that water system have already been privatized \u2014 and the results have been disastrous.<\/h3>\n\n\n
\n \n
\n Members of Progressive Morningstar Baptist Church move cases of water following a Sunday morning service in Jackson, Mississippi, on September 4, 2022. (Seth Herald \/ AFP via Getty Images)\n <\/figcaption> \n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n \n

The federal government is investigating why the state of Mississippi has failed to adequately fund the Jackson water system, after the city\u2019s water crisis<\/a> left 180,000 residents without clean water for much of August and September.<\/p>\n

The news comes as Mississippi\u2019s Republican governor Tate Reeves has been moving<\/a> to privatize the city\u2019s water system, meaning a private company would take over the system, allegedly to improve the city\u2019s water quality.<\/p>\n

In truth, Jackson has already worked with two private companies on parts of its water system, although these companies do not own the infrastructure. The results have been disastrous \u2014 and in some cases, helped lead to the most recent crisis. While these partnerships differ from privatization because the city still owns the utilities, they are a harbinger of what privatization could entail.<\/p>\n

Jackson declared a water emergency in August, when rain caused the Pearl River to flood, resulting in water that could not be properly treated. Videos from Jackson circulating<\/a> on social media showed water the color of coffee flowing from faucets. Residents were told<\/a> to keep their mouths closed while showering, while some people had no water at all and were unable to flush toilets.<\/p>\n

On September 15, Reeves lifted<\/a> the boil water advisory after seven weeks \u2014 but the root causes of the water crisis have not been fixed. On September 16, a group of Jackson residents filed a class-action lawsuit over the water crisis, describing<\/a> \u201cneglect, mismanagement, and maintenance failures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said<\/a> it is investigating whether the state of Mississippi discriminated against Jackson, a majority-black city, on the basis of race in how it\u2019s funded the city\u2019s water system. And two Democratic lawmakers, including Mississippi representative. Bennie Thompson, announced<\/a> they will investigate<\/a> how Mississippi plans to spend $429 million in funds from the bipartisan infrastructure law allocated to improve the state\u2019s water infrastructure.<\/p>\n

According to Politico<\/em><\/a>, the state received almost $75 million in water funding under the law this year but is spending none of it in Jackson.<\/p>\n

The water crisis, which affected 150,000 people, was years in the making<\/a>. The Lever<\/a> <\/em>recently reported<\/a> that the credit ratings agency Moody\u2019s Investors Service helped make Jackson\u2019s infrastructure problems worse by inflating the city\u2019s borrowing costs.<\/p>\n

Part of the blame also lies with the city\u2019s work with the private companies Veolia and Siemens. Veolia, a French water, waste, and energy management company, has periodically dumped partially treated wastewater in the river, while German multinational conglomerate Siemens developed a frustratingly expensive billing system and put the city on the hook to Wall Street bondholders for more than $200 million. As a result, the city and residents found themselves with unsafe water conditions \u2014 and had less money to spend on infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Jackson\u2019s Democratic mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba, who is against privatization, said<\/a> in 2019: \u201cSiemens and those working with the company failed to deal honestly with the City of Jackson . . . and burdened the City with one of the most expensive municipal water meter and billing systems in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Privatization of utilities can have ruinous effects, because the process removes public accountability: citizens cannot vote a corporation out of office. Citizens can also no longer meet with those in charge of infrastructure. Companies are no longer transparent to the public about their plans and operations. It also means that profits will become a main priority, making privatization expensive for taxpayers.<\/p>\n

As the effects of climate change increase, more cities are likely to see infrastructure crises, particularly black cities.<\/p>\n

According to Mary Grant, Public Water for All campaign director at environmental advocacy group Food and Water Watch<\/a>, Jackson\u2019s water problems are \u201ca story foremost about structural and systemic racism.\u201d<\/p>\n

The problems began in the 1980s, she said, after school integration led many white, wealthy residents to move to the suburbs. \u201cThat\u2019s when the water system first started deteriorating,\u201d said Grant. \u201cAnd so it\u2019s just been decades of intentional disinvestment in the system . . . It\u2019s this continual legacy of intentional neglect by the state and intentional disinvestment in the system, as well as federal austerity [as] a contributing factor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think [privatization] is a horrible idea that will just exacerbate the crisis,\u201d said Grant. \u201cIf you can\u2019t afford to improve your water system, how could you possibly afford to have profits extracted from your community just to pad the bottom line of a corporation?\u201d<\/p>\n

Reeves\u2019s office did not respond to the Lever<\/em>\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n\n \n\n \n \n \n

\u201cWe Look Forward to the Chance to Make a Difference\u201d<\/h2>\n \n

In 2010 and 2012, Jackson dumped 2.8 billion gallons of partially treated wastewater from the Savanna Street Wastewater Treatment Plant into the Pearl River.<\/p>\n

The EPA said<\/a> at the time: \u201cWhen wastewater systems overflow, they can release untreated sewage and other pollutants into local waterways, threatening water quality and contributing to beach closures and disease outbreaks.\u201d Jackson was charged<\/a> by the EPA for these unauthorized bypasses.<\/p>\n

In 2017, to try to improve the system\u2019s efficiency, Jackson entered a ten-year deal with Veolia to operate the city\u2019s three wastewater treatment plants. Veolia\u2019s contract was to not only manage wastewater treatment but also operate sludge disposal and ninety-eight pumping stations, according<\/a> to a press release from the company.<\/p>\n

John Gibson, president and chief operating officer of Veolia North America\u2019s municipal and commercial business, said in 2017<\/a>: \u201cWe look forward to the chance to make a difference in the lives of area residents through our partnership and provide opportunities for local businesses and quality of life enhancements in Jackson.\u201d<\/p>\n

Veolia did make a difference \u2014 but not in the way residents would have wanted. The Savanna Street Wastewater Treatment Plant operated by Veolia allegedly dumped<\/a> six billion gallons of partially treated wastewater into the Pearl River in 2020, according to a filing<\/a> by federal and state environmental regulators about violations of the Clean Water Act.<\/p>\n

Plaintiffs working on behalf of the EPA and the state of Mississippi noted that the city had not started to evaluate the wastewater system more than two years after the deadline, and they had not started its rehabilitation either.<\/p>\n

In 2019, 2020, and 2021, the state issued advisory<\/a> warnings not to swim or fish in the Pearl River due to its sewer system and overflows at the city\u2019s wastewater treatment plants. Jackson\u2019s contract with Veolia is still ongoing.<\/p>\n

This wasn\u2019t the first time Veolia was accused of making a bad situation worse. In 2015, Flint, Michigan, contracted<\/a> with Veolia to improve the city\u2019s water quality \u2014 but the following year, then Michigan attorney general Bill Schuette, a Republican, sued the company. He charged them with \u201cprofessional negligence and fraud, which caused Flint\u2019s lead poisoning problem to continue and worsen, and created an ongoing public nuisance.\u201d The charges were dismissed in 2019.<\/p>\n

Veolia was also accused of negligence in another Flint case that was ruled a mistrial<\/a> this past August, after a jury was unable to make a unanimous decision on the matter. According to plaintiffs<\/a>, lead in drinking water systems caused neurocognitive injuries in four children. Lead was also found<\/a> in Jackson\u2019s water as early as 2015.<\/p>\n

Although residents were given more than three hundred boil water advisories<\/a> in the past two years, doing so would not reduce lead levels and may actually increase<\/a> them.<\/p>\n\n \n \n \n

\u201cUnprecedented and Is Contrary to Industry Standards\u201d<\/h2>\n \n

In 2012<\/a>, the city signed a $90 million deal with Siemens to install new water meters across the city. Siemens promised Jackson \u201cguaranteed savings,\u201d according to a 2019 lawsuit<\/a> by the city.<\/p>\n

In the years that followed, residents reported<\/a> receiving either no bills for months or years, or bills that were inaccurately high. Siemens also worked with several subcontractors, inflating its costs.<\/p>\n

The city has since accused<\/a> Siemens of fraud. According to the lawsuit<\/a>, \u201cSiemens committed fraud with respect to who was performing the work on the project, what the system would do, and what savings the system would generate, among other things.\u201d<\/p>\n

The city also said in the lawsuit that more than half of the sixty thousand new water meters were installed incorrectly, which meant they \u201ccould not communicate with the billing system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grant said the contract \u201cled to massive erroneous bills and lack of . . . trust in the bills that people were receiving, because a lot of them [were] erroneous and inflated.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the lawsuit<\/a>, \u201cThe City relied on Siemens, the supposed expert on these types of projects, yet Siemens failed to disclose material information regarding the project\u2019s components and implementation.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2020, the parties settled the lawsuit<\/a> when Siemens agreed to pay Jackson $89.8 million for fraudulent behavior and botched work, ending the contract. But the city spent that sum on its water and sewage system \u2014 and on lawyers<\/a> litigating the case.<\/p>\n

The situation left the city with little matter to spare on improving its water system \u2014 and left residents with little trust that their water woes would improve.<\/p>\n\n \n \n \n

\u201cThey\u2019re Trying to Extract a Profit\u201d<\/h2>\n \n

Now, in light of Jackson\u2019s water crisis, the state is allegedly in talks<\/a> with an unnamed private water company to take over the system. While the city was originally involved in the discussion, Lumumba said<\/a> on September 7 that the city lost that role when the state took over the discussion.<\/p>\n

According to Grant, there are better ways to help Jackson than privatizing its water system.<\/p>\n

\u201cJackson needs direct federal grants, aid, and technical assistance,\u201d she said. \u201cHaving profiteers come in and extract even more wealth from the community, it\u2019s not viable, and it will make matters worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

At a September 13 town hall meeting, Lumumba shared<\/a> his concerns about privatization: \u201cThe problem with privatization is that companies aren\u2019t taking over your system in order to be benevolent. They\u2019re not taking over your system just because they want to come help, they\u2019re trying to extract a profit from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cAnd so when you have to make the level of investment that Jackson\u2019s system requires, that means that there will be significant increases in the cost. They have looked at the margins and they are trying to understand where they get that money from. And if you privatize it then we have far less control over making sure that your rates stay affordable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lumumba\u2019s office told the Lever <\/em>that they were not sure what would happen moving forward with the privatization of the water system.<\/p>\n

Grant, of Food and Water Watch, said there is usually a bidding process and request for proposals, which can take about a year. Once the system is sold, it is almost impossible to take the infrastructure back to public ownership.<\/p>\n

As Lumumba put it<\/a> at a city council meeting in August: \u201cPrivatization is, in fact, the selling of the system. And there are white papers and extensive literature that shows [the communities impacted most] are the poor communities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n

You can subscribe to David Sirota\u2019s investigative journalism project, the\u00a0Lever<\/i>,\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This post was originally published on Jacobin<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The federal government is investigating why the state of Mississippi has failed to adequately fund the Jackson water system, after the city\u2019s water crisis left 180,000 residents without clean water for much of August and September. The news comes as Mississippi\u2019s Republican governor Tate Reeves has been moving to privatize the city\u2019s water system, meaning [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":955,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852067"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/955"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=852067"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852067\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":852284,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852067\/revisions\/852284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=852067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=852067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=852067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}