Binghamton, NY — Today, Food & Water Watch issued a letter to Mayor Richard David and members of the Binghamton City Council, amplifying the chorus of residents opposed to a proposed contract with Veolia to audit municipal wastewater services in Binghamton. The letter comes in advance of the next City Council meeting on April 21, where a vote on the contract is expected to take place.
In the letter, advocates warn that the proposed audit contract is a foot in the door on a larger sewer privatization deal, with significant potential negative outcomes for the city, including:
Sewer privatization can lead to degraded services;
Sewer privatization can result in higher costs for the public; and
Sewer privatization can leave communities without local control of essential services.
Veolia’s bad track record is also highlighted, noting multiple instances where cities had to foot the bill or take Veolia to court over improper water and wastewater management. For more information on Veolia, see their corporate profile here.
In response, Food & Water Watch Senior Organizer Eric Weltman issued the following statement:
“When a controversial international corporation with a scandalous track record of lawsuits and poor service comes to town and offers a ‘win-win’ contract, the red flag must go up. From Idaho to Massachusetts, Veolia has entered communities and disrupted essential services for the benefit of outsourced corporate profit — Binghamton must not suffer the same fate. Mayor David and the Binghamton City Council must reject Veolia and commit to full public provision of water and wastewater operations.”
Washington D.C. – Today, Veolia announced an agreement in principle to acquire Suez through a $15 billion deal that would merge the two largest water corporations in the world.
In response, Food & Water Watch Public Water for All Campaign Director Mary Grant issued the following statement:
“Veolia’s plan to dominate public water services all across the globe is becoming a terrifying reality. The merger of the world’s largest water corporations will erode any semblance of competition for water privatization deals. This lack of competition will worsen our water affordability crisis, eliminate good union jobs, and open the door to cronyism and corruption.
“Water privatization has been a disaster for communities across the United States and around the world. Municipalities struggling with budget crises linked to the COVID pandemic may consider selling off their valuable water systems as a short-term response to plug budget gaps. This would create long-term harm. Communities must revert all privatized water and sewer systems to public control to ensure safety and affordability for all.”
New City, NY — This morning, Rockland County residents called on Governor Cuomo and his administration to take concrete steps to protect public health from chemical contamination in the county’s water supply, presenting a petition signed by over one thousand residents to the governor. The Rockland Water Coalition, along with allies and elected officials, urged Governor Cuomo to undertake measures to monitor, publicly disclose, and cleanup PFAS or “forever chemicals” in the County’s water supply. The Rockland Water Coalition, along with allies including Food & Water Watch, Riverkeeper, NYPIRG and Environmental Advocates of New York has been mobilizing for months.
In a press conference today (video link), local residents, including health care professionals, parents, middle school students, members of the clergy, educators and non-profit organizers, spoke out against the dangers of PFAS contamination. PFAS pose serious risks to human health including high cholesterol, thyroid disease, kidney and testicular cancer, and impacts on fertility. Speakers emphasized the particular dangers for pregnant women and children, which include decreased fertility, pregnancy-induced hypertension, and correlations with low birth weight. Exposure to PFAS has also been shown to cause adverse impacts on the liver and immune system, with a link to decreased vaccine response and neurobehavioral effects, including ADHD.
Inadequate action by the Cuomo administration on this issue has put the County’s public health supply at risk for months since the chemicals were initially discovered last year.
“It is genuinely frightening to think that my children have been and are being exposed to toxic chemicals in their drinking water,” said Molly Findlay, a mother and Rockland resident. “These are chemicals for which there are no known safe limits.”
“When we speak for the youth, we say that there are NO acceptable levels of toxic PFAS in drinking water anywhere,” said 13-year-old Blue Rock School StudentAnna Palitti. “We demand action from local and government officials to treat this as an emergency.”
“Here in the U.S. we presume water from our faucet is clean and safe,” said Sr. Dorothy Maxwell. “It’s a terrible thing that in the U.S., one of the richest countries on earth, we are being exposed to toxic chemicals in our drinking water.”
“Public health is at serious risk in Rockland County, and the Cuomo administration must step up their monitoring efforts and intervene on the public’s behalf,” said Eric Weltman, Senior New York Organizer with Food & Water Watch, a member of the Rockland Water Coalition. “New Yorkers deserve clean, affordable and safe drinking water, every time they turn on the tap. Governor Cuomo must take action on this issue immediately, before any more residents are put at risk.”
Richmond, VA — One month after the Virginia legislature voted to enshrine the human right to water for all in the Commonwealth, advocates are calling on Governor Northam to publicly support the resolution. The resolution, championed by Delegate Lashrecse Aird in tandem with Food & Water Watch and Virginia Interfaith Power & Light affirms the right to clean, potable and affordable water for all. The resolution passed both chambers at a time when water access continues to be challenging for many during the pandemic.
Just last week, new research from Cornell University and Food & Water Watch found that almost half a million COVID infections could have been prevented last year if there had been a national moratorium on water service shutoffs. In Virginia alone, the researchers estimate that almost 15,000 COVID infections could have been prevented if a statewide moratorium had been in place.
“We applaud state legislators for passing Virginia’s Water as a Human Right resolution and believe that a similarly emphatic declaration from Governor Northam would establish critical safeguards within state agencies to ensure clean, potable and affordable water for all,” said Food & Water Watch Southern Regional Director Jorge Aguilar. “Governor Northam has been committed to ensuring water access during the pandemic and supporting this resolution now is critical to meeting the challenges our state will face in ensuring water justice in the future.
“We are thrilled that Del. Aird carried the Water Access: Human Right Resolution and that the 2021 General Assembly passed it,” said Rev. Dr. Faith Harris, Virginia Interfaith Power & Light Co-Director. “We encourage Governor Northam, who has previously expressed the importance of water access for human health, to declare water access and affordability a priority among state agencies, especially those tasked with water management or protection assuring quality and access for all Virginia’s residents.”
Almost half a million COVID infections could have been prevented last year if there had been a national moratorium on water service shutoffs, according to new research from Cornell University and the national advocacy group Food & Water Watch.
The findings also show that during the same period, from mid-April through the end of 2020, 9,000 COVID deaths could have been prevented with a robust moratorium on water shutoffs.
The study found that states that had instituted policies to prevent water shutoffs reduced the growth rates for COVID infections and deaths. If similar policies had been adopted across the country, the study model shows that COVID cases might have been reduced by 4 percent, and deaths by 5.5 percent, in the states without a moratorium.
“This research clearly shows us that the pain and suffering caused by COVID pandemic was exacerbated by political leaders who failed to take action to keep the water flowing for struggling families,“ said Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter. “These findings should move us to fight even harder for water justice everywhere: A full moratorium on shutoffs and a massive federal investment in our public water infrastructure. Congress must pass the WATER Act to invest in communities, promote climate resilience, and ensure public water for all.”
The patchwork nature of local and statewide moratoria policies — many of which expired over the course of the year — left millions of people vulnerable to losing service. By June, 34 states had imposed either a full or partial moratorium on water shutoffs, protecting nearly 247 million people. But by the end of the year, just 12 states had a moratorium in place. By December, 65 percent of the country — 211 million people — were not covered. This total included 75 million people of color and 2.6 million households in the lowest income quintile, which are the households most at risk of having their service shut off.
“Our model uses more than 12 thousand data points to capture the relationship between days when a state had a moratorium in place and the level of COVID-19 infection and deaths.,” said Dr. Xue Zhang, Post-Doctoral Associate in the Departments of City and Regional Planning and Global Development at Cornell. “Using modeling typical of other public health studies, we find states with moratoria had lower infection and death growth rates. We hope what we learned from the pandemic can contribute to universal access to water in the future.”
“Access to water is absolutely critical during the pandemic,” said Dr. Mildred E. Warner, Professor of City and Regional Planning and Global Development at Cornell University. “This study shows the importance of a national standard for access to water, especially for low-income households. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed so many structural inequities in our society, and access to drinking water is one that demands our attention.”
While there is no comprehensive water shutoff data source, it is clear that the existing shutoff moratoria protected hundreds of thousands of people from disconnection. In California alone, the state estimated that one in eight households were behind on their water bills, owing a collective $1 billion as of January 2021.
Washington, D.C. – Today the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee unanimously passed the Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act of 2021, sponsored by Sen. Tammy Duckworth. In response, Food & Water Watch Policy Director Mitch Jones issued the following statement:
“The water infrastructure bill that moved through committee today may be an improvement on past attempts to address our country’s ever-mounting list of water crises, but it is still wholly inadequate given the nature and scope of the task at hand. From rampant lead contamination in Flint, Michigan, to millions in the South recently going weeks without any water at all, our country’s water systems have literally reached the breaking point. Legislative half-measures simply won’t do in this time of national water crisis.
“The Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity and Reliability (WATER) Act would adequately meet the scope and scale of the crisis we face. The WATER Act would provide $35 billion annually to restore and rebuild drinking water and wastewater infrastructure systems, provide relief to communities facing water service shutoffs due to unaffordable bills, and create nearly one million well-paying jobs across the country. Grave crises require bold solutions. Congress and the Biden administration need to meet the challenge head-on by including the WATER Act in any infrastructure package they consider.”
In this report, we’re sharing stories of the real people — our friends and neighbors — who feel the impacts of drilling, water shutoffs, and factory farms. We’re grateful for your generosity. Meet the people your support has touched this year.
Food & Water Watch organizers are in communities across the country, working closely with those most impacted by the dangers of factory farms, water insecurity, and fossil fuel infrastructure. These problems we tackle require both short-term and long-term solutions, and we are grateful for your generosity.
Food & Water Watch delivers real results that improve people’s lives – thanks to YOU.
You’re keeping the water turned on in millions of homes.
You’re shutting down factory farms, pushing for policies that support small and midsize family farms, and reviving rural communities.
You’re stopping climate chaos, keeping people safe from fracking, and transitioning communities to 100% renewable energy.
Fighting Fossil Fuels
Like you, Food & Water Watch wants a livable planet for generations to come. That’s why we organize communities for a fair and just transition to 100% renewable energy as we work to stop all oil or gas production and ban fracking now.
Alex Austin lived in the Porter Ranch neighborhood of Los Angeles for most of her life until a few months ago, when she along with many neighbors were forced to move due to the health effects of the largest gas leak in U.S. history. The gas leak lasted four months, releasing roughly 100,000 metric tons of climate-destroying methane and other harmful pollutants that threatened nearby communities and forced more than 8,000 families to flee their homes.
Food & Water Watch had been working with residents there for years prior to the blowout because of the enormous risk of gas infrastructure. Along with our organizer, Alex has fought for justice for her community at the local, state, and national levels — and this fight will go on.
That’s what your support brings — a team of residents and volunteers working together, guided by our organizers and empowered by our research, legal expertise, and advocacy.
Securing Water For All
Water companies and utilities burden tens of millions of families with sky-high water bills to support crumbling water infrastructure. That’s why we fight for federal investment in our national water infrastructure — we want clean, safe, and affordable water for all.
Pastor James is a community leader in Baltimore. The government nearly took his beloved church through a tax sale, in part because of an unaffordable water bill. By connecting with Food & Water Watch, the church found help and stopped their eviction from their home of 30 years.
We worked with Pastor James and others to pass legislation to remove water bills from the tax sale process, protecting thousands from losing their home for an unaffordable water bill.
Building a Better Food System
“For some people, farming is a hidden world,” says Tiffany, who runs a small livestock farm with her husband, Andy, south of Minneapolis. When the pandemic hit, they saw a surge of people who wanted locally-grown food.
They were lucky. Many other small farms, overlooked by federal relief, suffered devastating losses during the pandemic.
That’s why Food & Water Watch’s work to ban factory farms is so important. Small and medium-sized farms raising livestock are being pushed out by large factory farms housing thousands of animals in crowded spaces. These operations, controlled by approximately 20 corporations, produce enormous volumes of waste, pollute the air and water, exploit workers, harm animal welfare, fuel antibiotic resistance and climate change, and harm the rural communities they are purported to benefit.
We’re fighting for legislation to hold corporations accountable and bring transformational change. We also take the worst offenders to court. With partners in the largest farm states, we’re standing up to giant corporate interests.
This is an exclusive preview from our upcoming research piece that sets out a bold new vision for farming in America – set for release in April.
We at Food & Water Watch are grateful for your generosity.
Your investment in healthy food, clean water, and a livable climate makes a huge impact. Thank you for joining us to fight like you live here!
Des Moines, IA — As environmentalists celebrated World Water Day this week, groups in Iowa took a different approach. Food & Water Watch and Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (Iowa CCI) are calling on the leadership of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to step in as continued legislative inaction on factory farm moratorium bills has left Iowans without legal protections to deal with the converging factory farm and water pollution crises in the state.
Animals confined in factory farms across Iowa are the leading cause of water pollution in the state. Industrial agriculture’s unchecked expansion has resulted in exploding numbers of factory farm operations — the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) estimates that an average of 500 factory farms are added to the state each year. At the same time, Iowa’s residents struggle with contaminated drinking water and rivers and streams that are unsafe for recreation.
40% of private wells in the state were found to be contaminated with unsafe levels of bacteria, and over 200 of Iowa’s community water systems struggle to provide clean drinking water due to high nitrate levels. Given legislative inaction on bills to curb the development of factory farms known to drive this pollution, Food & Water Watch and Iowa CCI call on the EPA for national intervention.
“For years, Iowa’s legislature has ignored the water pollution crisis we find ourselves in,” said Food & Water Watch Iowa Organizer Emma Schmit. “More interested in courting industry campaign donations than keeping our drinking water safe, our politicians have failed to use their power this session to curb factory farm expansion. We call on the EPA to act in their stead, and ramp up their inspections and enforcement efforts in our state.”
“Pollution from factory farms is impacting all Iowans — rural and urban, young and old, across race, gender and income status,” said Iowa CCI Organizer Abigail Landhuis. “It’s obvious that Governor Reynolds’ DNR is not interested in addressing our water crisis with urgency. We need the EPA to step in to take action and reduce the harms factory farms have on Iowa’s waterways.”
The two groups are also pursuing a legal remedy for the factory farm and water pollution crises in Iowa. Food & Water Watch and Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement are the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the State of Iowa for failing to protect the public use of the Raccoon River, elevating the river as a case study of the water pollution rampant throughout the state’s waterways. The case is currently with the Iowa Supreme Court.
The Clean Water Act is one of the United States’ most successful environmental laws, in large part because it requires permits that impose strict pollution limits on sources like factories and wastewater treatment plants. These permits are the cornerstone of the statute, but this success is now being threatened by a water pollution “trading” approach that allows polluters to purchase pollution credits in lieu of meeting their own permits’ discharge limits.
In Pennsylvania, the state has implemented trading on a large scale and is allowing facilities like Keystone Protein, a slaughterhouse, to avoid meeting pollution limits mandated by the Chesapeake Bay cleanup plan and instead purchase credits. This approach lets major polluters off the hook, undermines transparency, and makes it all but impossible for citizens to enforce permit requirements – it is also illegal.
The Clean Water Act and EPA’s regulations say nothing about pollution trading because it is contrary to the very purpose and structure of the law. This has prevented citizens from challenging trading to date. But EPA has allowed states to move forward with trading despite the lack of express authority or any EPA rules. Food & Water Watch is leading a landmark case seeking to have water pollution trading declared illegal under the Clean Water Act and put an end to the practice. We are challenging the pollution trading provisions in Keystone Protein’s Clean Water Act permit, and our case was recently heard by the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court.
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In September of 2020, Food & Water Watch and For Love of Water (FLOW), through local counsel Constitutional Litigation Associates, P.C., filed a “friend of the court” brief in Jacqueline Taylor et al., v. City of Detroit et al., a groundbreaking lawsuit that seeks to prevent water shutoffs in Detroit until the city establishes a customer affordability program.
From our senior staff attorney, Zach Corrigan:
“We’re proud to join with local allies in support of the landmark lawsuit to challenge water shutoff policies in Detroit, and potentially across the nation. In the midst of a deadly pandemic, city policies kept Detroit residents from washing their hands, flushing their toilets and cleaning their homes. The policies have caused disastrous consequences for the predominantly Black and poor residents of Detroit.
People have a liberty interest in bodily integrity that is protected by the U.S. Constitution, and this right includes not depriving people of the water that they need for drinking, sanitation, and hygiene. It simply makes no sense to say that the Constitution would protect people from gross governmental recklessness resulting in the mass contamination of people’s water with toxic lead, such as in the city of Flint, but not when officials turn a blind eye to the serious health problems in turning residents’ water off altogether.
People’s right not to be deprived of the water they need… is deeply rooted in the history and traditions of this nation. It is imbued in case law defining the duties applicable to water utilities and in other contexts, such as the treatment of prisoners. Courts have expressly and repeatedly recognized the importance of ensuring people are not deprived of the water necessary for life and health.”
Someone has to stand up for the people. A donation of any amount helps fund more fights like this!
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