June 30th, 2010

Contact:
Kate Fried, Food & Water Watch
(202) 683-4905
kfried@fwwatch.org

Selling off New Jersey’s water systems may cost ratepayers $153 a year
New Food & Water Watch report finds that privatizing water systems won’t balance state budget

New Brunswick, N.J.—New Jerseyans could see their water bills go up by as much as $153 a year if private companies
buy or lease public water systems, finds a new report released today by the consumer advocacy group Food & Water
Watch. Entitled Has Water Privatization Gone Too Far in New Jersey?, the report surveys rates of the 14 largest
community water systems in the state, and found that privately owned and run systems charge 64 percent more than
their public counterparts.

“As Governor Christie and his privatization task force explore privatizing state services, it bears noting that selling or
leasing off New Jersey’s drinking and wastewater systems will do absolutely nothing to help the state’s budget,” said
Food & Water Watch Eastern Region Director Jim Walsh. “In fact, giving up control of these essential resources under
the guise of fiscal relief will only result in rate hikes for residents.”

In addition to costing consumers, water quality has been shown to suffer under the control of private companies, often
at great cost to communities. One such town, Dover Township (now called Toms River), experienced an increase in
childhood cancer rates linked to contaminated drinking water under the service of the private water provider United
Water. The company was later fined $64,000 for failing to notify the public of illegally high levels of radioactive
contaminants in the water there, a problem that the state later determined had been covered up by the company’s
operators, who manipulated drinking water tests to conceal potential quality violations.

Last month, the state Board of Public Utilities approved a 19 percent water rate increase there. ”People have lost control
of their water,” said Edith Gbur, an activist from Tom’s River. “Now both our pockets and our health are paying the
price.”

While publically controlled municipal water systems often implement smart growth strategies in order to conserve
resources, private water companies often rely on excessive consumer water consumption in order to keep profits up.
This, and sprawling development can also contribute to sewage overflows and depleted groundwater supplies.

“Privatization hurts the public, while only benefiting multinational corporations,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the N.J.
Sierra Club. “We see higher rates and lower water quality through privatization, which is bad for consumers, health,
and the environment.”

Given the economic, health and environmental problems associated with privatized water, New Jersey is seeing more
signs of public support for public ownership and operation of water systems. Earlier this month, residents of Trenton
voted 79 percent to 21 percent to reject a plan to sell off a portion of the Trenton Water Works to New Jersey American
Water (NJAWC). Had this bid passed, many area ratepayers would have seen their water bills increase over time by 33
percent, or $138 a year.

Algernon Ward Jr., who petitioned in Trenton to stop the sale to NJAWC, said that giving residents a chance to vote
was effective in keeping power in the hands of the people. “I’m proud of the people in my home town,” said Ward.
“Selling off our water to a corporation would cost us all more every year and lead Trenton down the wrong path.”

Has Water Privatization Gone Too Far in New Jersey? is now available online.

Food & Water Watch works to ensure the food, water and fish we consume is safe, accessible and sustainable. We help
people take charge of where their food comes from, keep clean, affordable, public tap water flowing freely to our
homes, protect the environmental quality of oceans, force government to do its job protecting citizens, and educate
about the importance of keeping shared resources under public control.
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