1500+ Residents Call on Gov. Shapiro to Stop Chester Water Grab

Dozens of advocates deliver petitions calling on the Governor to rescind the latest Chester City bankruptcy plan, save Chester Water Authority, stop privatization

Published Oct 9, 2024

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Dozens of advocates deliver petitions calling on the Governor to rescind the latest Chester City bankruptcy plan, save Chester Water Authority, stop privatization

Harrisburg, PA – Today, dozens of residents and community advocates went to Harrisburg to deliver petition signatures to Governor Josh Shapiro to urge him to protect the Chester Water Authority and revoke all state policies that promote privatization. The petition from more than 1,500 Pennsylvania residents calls on the Governor to direct the state-appointed financial receiver for the city of Chester to rescind his recent water plan.

Last month, the financial receiver for the City of Chester filed an updated plan in the bankruptcy court, outlining an intention to monetize the water assets of Chester Water Authority (CWA), the city portion of the DELCORA, and the Stormwater Authority of Chester. Chester-area residents have been fighting the privatization of their water system for more than 7 years. Former-Governor Wolf appointed the current receiver for Chester. This new filing opens the door to a long-term concession contract of the assets or a future sale. Residents and local leaders have opposed the move as another water grab and are urging Governor Shapiro to drop this plan.

The petition was delivered by a delegation of affected residents and representatives from a Save CWA, SEIU PA State Council, Neighbors Opposing Privatization Efforts (NOPE), Keep Water Affordable (KWA), Food & Water Watch, Concerned Citizens of North Versailles, Cheltenham for Affordable Water and Sewer, In the Public Interest and Freshwater Future. 

“We urge Governor Shapiro to set a new course for Chester – one that protects water as a public resource,” said Ginny Marcille-Kerslake, Pennsylvania organizer at Food & Water Watch. “The current plan relies on massive water rate hikes as a misguided attempt to achieve solvency, but water privatization is a false solution for municipal budget shortfalls.”   

“Although we understand Chester’s financial challenges,” stated Noël Brandon, Chairperson of the Board of Chester Water Authority, “exploiting CWA ratepayers as a revenue source is unacceptable, illegal and will cause long-term economic damage across the region. We strongly urge the Governor to instruct the Receiver to abandon this misguided proposal.”

“Austerity, the private water lobby, and Act 12 have created an environment in Pennsylvania where a well-run, reliable public water system like Chester Water Authority is a target to be bought up by private corporations,” said Jill Ryan, Executive Director of Freshwater Future. “The latest plan to sell the water authority to private corporate interests in the name of bankruptcy threatens to deprive over 200,000 customers of public assets, affordable water rates, and local governance. Governor Shapiro please intervene so that public water and voices can be protected: save Chester Water Authority!”

“Privatizing the water system like CWA is a forever decision in which a private corporation is allowed to seize control of the most vital of resources from CWA ratepayers, to whom such authority should belong,” said Donald Cohen, Executive Director at In the Public Interest. “It would no longer be treated as a public good worth protecting, but rather as a profit center ripe for exploiting.”

“The receiver wants to use Chester Water Authority to raise money for the benefit of the city of Chester,” said Peter Mrozinski, co-founder of Keep Water Affordable. “Access to pure water is guaranteed by the Pennsylvania constitution. It is uncontainable to commoditize and monetize a natural resource which is ‘the common property of all the people.’”

“Communities across Pennsylvania have been begging their local officials to not sign them up for extreme rate hikes and legal uncertainty associated with ‘monetization,’ often to no avail,” said Kofi Osei, a cofounder of Neighbors Opposing Privatization Efforts. “This is a fundamental problem with leadership in Harrisburg where they look the other way while our neighbors are being sent to the sharks. I call on Governor Shapiro and the General Assembly to save CWA, to save the City of Chester, and to implement workable solutions to maintain our vital infrastructure. I call on Governor Shapiro to get stuff done.” 

All this week billboards have been on display around Harriburg, urging the Governor to protect the Chester Water Authority. Billboards are located along I-83, just before exit 44B (17th St);  I-83, 1.5 miles South of Union Deposit Rd.; Intersection of Paxton St/S. Cameron St; and North 7th Street at Forster St. 

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