| Overview of Veolia
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I originally got involved with Veolia due to a series of overcharges on my water and sewer
bill. I
live in Indianapolis, Indiana and our great former mayor chose to
contract Veolia in it's largest American contract to date. A
20 year, $1.1 billion contract to privatize water service. In
the first year of service, consumer complaints went up 300% and more
than 250,000 residents were overcharged. We have the second
worst drinking water in the country. A grand jury has subpoenaed four
Veolia employees for allegations of falsifying water reports. The grand
jury investigated accusations by city and county officials that Veolia
was skimping on staffing, water testing, maintenance and chemicals. Please click on 'My Story' if you want to understand more details, but a few months ago, I received a bill from Veolia for $734. My normal bill is about $35. This unusually high bill was a result of toilet 'running' silently in my basement. Due to Veolia policy of not reading the water meter monthly this leak went unnoticed for more than two months. Although Veolia eventually made an adjustment to the bill, I was responsible for the majority of the amount. I did some research on what other water companies would do with their customer for a similar situation. I found that most municipally owned and managed companies would give the customer a one time exception for the wasted water and would be asked to pay their average amount. Veolia's customer service is extremely rude and arrogant. My water will be disconnect on April 1st since I cannot afford this bill. The purpose of this site is two fold. One is make all of my fellow citizens of Indianapolis aware of the terrible company that we have charging us for our water. I intend, soon to create an online petition to have the city terminate Veolia's contract with Indianapolis. I hope to collect at least 100,000 digital signatures. The second purpose is to inform any other city, township or state about this terrible company in hopes that they will not proceed in signing any contracts with Veolia for any type of service or assets. So here goes. Here are some highlights of Veolia's activities around the country; Lynn, Massachusetts - In 1999 Lynn the mayor voted to approve an expensive 20 year, $48 million dollar contract with Veolia to upgrade sewer system. In 2004 the city was forced to end the contract, and resume plant operations "after discovering that the water corporation's required $15 million letter of credit expired in 2001.The company had "failed to stay adequately bonded". The city lost $22 million and allowed the company to downsize staffing by 20%, would reap greater profits without lowering rates for Lynn's residents. The inspector general also concluded that the study used to promote U.S. Filter(Veolia) was highly flawed and "a smokescreen to divert attention from the unreasonably high price for U.S. Filter's proposed work". Burlingame - Veolia is accused of dumping more than 10 million gallons of wastewater and untreated sewage over a 5 year period into the San Francisco Bay. Richmond - In 2006 Veolia sued for dumping more than 17 million gallons of sewage into tributaries over the preceding three years. In 2002, the city gave the 20-year, $70 million contract to Veolia, which promised to cut costs…An outside consultant concluded the sewers needed $18 million worth of upgrades - nearly three times the $6.4 million included in Veolia's plan. Richmond settled out of court and agreed to pay millions in improvements to reduce sewer spills. "This suit was not the only costly consequence of Veolia's poor operation. For years, Richmond taxpayers had to shell out $500,000 annually to compensate other residents and businesses for property damage by the sewer system."Despite infrastructure improvements, in early 2008 the plant had 22 spills of more than 2 million gallons of sewage. ("Money Down the Drain", pg 16, Food and Water Watch, 2/09) Petaluma -In 2007 Petaluma voted to take back
management of its sewer system from Veolia Rockland, Massachusetts - Rockland terminated Veolia's contract to run the town's sewer plant in February 2004, amid embezzlement charges involving a sewer department official and a local company executive. The men were charged with embezzling more than US$300,000 from the Rockland Sewer Department. The termination came on the heels of a forensic audit that suggested the bidding process by which Veolia was selected to run the plant was rigged, as well as an investigation by the Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General into whether the original bidding process was rigged in Veolia's favor. Lee, Massachusetts - In 2004, Lee town representatives voted down a Veolia proposal to run the city's water and wastewater systems. The contract was "riddled with holes and omissions. The city would have been saddled with any number of costs, ranging from excavation to testing to administrative tasks. The company reserved for itself the right to set rates for treatment of 'trucked-in waste from outside of town', reflecting a scheme to turn Lee's wastewater treatment facilities into a regional waste plant/Veolia profit stream. Danbury, Connecticut - Danbury, Conn. Wanted an easy way to balance its municipal budget, so in 1997, the city leased its sewers to U.S. Filter, in exchange for a $10 million upfront payment.The corporation planned to recover the cash advance over 20-year term through annual management fees of $3.1 million from the city.In effect, the city will end up paying $22 million for the $10 million windfall. A concession fee is like an expensive loan that the city repays off the back of its residents. Charles Conway of EPA criticized Danbury's decision as shortsighted. Many municipal officials are using these concession fees for short term gain at the expense of the long term viability of their wastewater infrastructure. Wilmington, Delaware - In 1997, Wilmington entered into a 20-year, $164 million lease agreement with U.S. Filter. The company paid the city $1 million for administrative costs and promised to make $13 million in capitol improvements.But U.S. Filter (Veolia) failed to make necessary upgrades and repairs", leading to years of sewage spills, environmental violations and state fines. Horrendously foul odors continue to be a problem and as do "sewage overflow outlets [that] send more than a billion gallons of contaminated wastewater into area waterways every year".The city has also become embroiled in contract disputes with Veolia and county officials who challenged a 55% rate hike that the city tried to impose on county wastewater. Houston, Texas - scandal and incompetence marred the city's water privatization experience. In 1996 a federal investigation began on alleged questionable financial transactions involving consultants hired by PSG a subsidiary of Veolia (then Vivendi). The company hired high-profile consultants to lobby city officials around two big-ticket deals, both of which came to naught. It unsuccessfully rebid for a contract to operate the city's Southeast Water Purification Plant and tried, unsuccessfully, to get the city to privatize its Public Utilities Division.United Water won the water treatment plant contract, to be supplanted in 2001 by Enron's Azurix (now American Water). After a legal fight [with American Water] in 2007, the city gave the boot to American Water, too, deciding once-and-for-all to bring the operation in-house. The city expects to save an impressive 17 percent, or $2 million, operating the plant with public employees. Angleton, Texas - Angleton terminated a contract with Veolia for non-performance, and took the company to court, charging [that] it breached its contract by failing to maintain adequate staffing levels, not submitting capital project reports and charging improper expenses to the maintenance and repair tab picked up by the city. New Orleans, Louisiana - The ill fated consideration [of privatizing its sewer and water operations] ran up a price tag of roughly US$5 million over more than five years and a pair of mayors. the bid submitted by Veolia Water …was so laden with uncertainties, inadequacies, omissions and other problems that New Orleans officials could not credibly assess the much promised savings. New Orleans was also the city of Veolia's (then Vivendi) biggest U.S. sewage spill. In 2001 raw sewage backed up into the East Bank Sewage Treatment Plant, after an electrical fire disrupted operations, and was diverted into the Mississippi River for two hours before the plant returned to operation. A city councilmember stated he was told that U.S. Filter knew of a serious equipment problem for weeks but took no action. Broken incinerators had also caused problems with sludge processing in the proceeding months. Woonsocket, Rhode Island - The city decided to privatize in 1999, granting U.S. Filter a 20 year, $75 million contract. The company agreed to upgrade the city's sewer facilities.Years of serious sewage spills, violations and fines followed in 2001, 2002, 2005, 2007 and 2008. By 2008, the plant had been out of compliance with the Clean Water Act for at least three years. In total, over the preceding five years, the state Department of Environmental Management issued seven informal enforcement actions and five formal actions against the treatment plant. The plant's manager was ordered to attend a remedial training program, sponsored by the state, "called Wastewater Management Boot Camp. And last but not least Indianapolis, Indiana - In 2002 Veolia signed a 20 year, $1.1 billion contract to privatize water service to more than a million people.Since then, residents have brought lawsuits against Veolia twice, once for breaking state contract law, and once for overcharging 250,000 residents. Non-union employees have had pension, health care and benefits cut costing them $50 million over the 20-year contract. The city has the second worst drinking water in the country. A grand
jury has subpoenaed four Veolia employees for allegations of falsifying
water reports. The grand jury investigated accusations by city and
county officials that Veolia was skimping on staffing, water testing,
maintenance and chemicals. Visitor count 7608 |