Submitted by arlenegloria on Thu, 02/04/2010 - 14:03

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Corporations Are Targeting Cash-Strapped Cities for Control of Their Public Water

From wastewater to drinking water, big business is looking to cash in on public water systems and they've got a new tactic.

by Jon Keesecker, Food and Water Watch

January 29, 2010 - Corporate interests are eyeing our water. From wastewater to drinking water, big business is looking to cash in on public water systems and they've got a new tactic: They're using desperate economic times to convince city officials that they should place a corporation between families and their ability to eat, drink, and clean.

Take Akron, Ohio, for example. In September 2008 I wrote an article for Alternet about a ballot measure in Akron where voters were asked whether to lease the city's wastewater system to a corporation in return for an immediate, one-time payment. The plan was roundly defeated. But more importantly, as the article suggested, the lease signaled a new direction for water privatization in the U.S. This involved a collaboration between water companies and Wall Street to snatch up control of water infrastructure for the better part of a century.

Since that vote, similar lease plans have been floated in Milwaukee and Chicago, presenting a dangerous possibility: In the near future, a major U.S. city could sign over unprecedented control of its water system to a corporation for a generation or longer.

Please visit AlterNet to read more: 

http://www.alternet.org/water/145480/water_heist_corporations_are_targeting_cashstrapped_cities_for_control_of_their_public_water