This week, local community organizers across the state from Towamencin Township to North Versailles Township won major victories to protect public control of their wastewater systems, while Chester Water Authority faced a new wildly unpopular water grab by a state-imposed receiver for the city of Chester. In recent months, the fight for public control of water has heated up statewide, as the state legislature and regulators advance reforms to the law, Act 12 of 2016, that allowed predatory water system acquisitions. 

“Clearly, water privatization is unwelcome across Pennsylvania,” said Ginny Marcille-Kerslake, Pennsylvania organizer at Food & Water Watch. “For years, the corporate water industry viewed Pennsylvania public water and sewer systems as easy pickings for their insatiable acquisition spree, but years of coordinated efforts from NOPE, Keep Water Affordable and many grassroots leaders are fundamentally changing the landscape of water privatization in Pennsylvania. We applaud organizers in Towamencin Township and North Versailles Township for their dedication to protecting public wastewater. State legislators and Governor Josh Shapiro must take note and act to protect public water.”   

On Wednesday, Towamencin Township and Pennsylvania American Water, the state arm of the nation’s largest water corporation, announced they were abandoning the effort to privatize the public sewer system of Towamencin Township, after years of successful organizing by Towamencin Neighbors Opposing Privatization Efforts (NOPE). In 2022, the township voted to sell the sewer system to NextEra for $115 million. In 2023, NextEra backed out of the deal and American Water assumed it. NOPE led a ballot campaign to rewrite the municipal charter, making sewer privatization illegal in the township. The township board will vote on September 11 to officially terminate the scheme.

On Tuesday evening, the North Versailles Township Sanitary Authority confirmed the cancellation of a proposed sale of its sewer assets to Aqua Pennsylvania, a subsidiary of Essential Utilities. In December 2023, the sanitary authority had unanimously voted to approve the sale for $25 to 30 million. The turnaround came after months of organic community-led opposition to the sale. Since June, dozens of residents have been packing the township commission and authority meetings to urge the cancellation of the scheme. 

“It was a grueling few months but the hard work of the North Versailles concerned citizens paid off,” said MaryAnn Conners, North Versailles Township resident. 

“We did it! This was a team effort and everyone pooled together to defeat the sale,” said Sharon O’Toole, a North Versailles resident who organized her neighbors to sign petitions and turn out to meetings. “Why the shroud of secrecy for months?  It reeked of ill-will and deceit in my opinion. I feel that the pressure from us residents had a lot to do with them declining the offer. They finally realized that we were not going to give up our fight, even if it had gotten to the point where we had to fight to have it repealed.”

“North Versailles residents reached out to me for advice on stopping a sewer sale,” said Kofi Osei, Towamencin Township Supervisor and NOPE Organizer. “Surprising to me, it was announced that Towamencin would vote on terminating their sale within days of North Versailles voting to terminate their sale. Opposite sides of our Commonwealth, but the story is the same; an organized community can stop these scams. There is no guarantee though and the General Assembly should take the proper lesson that it’s not just that Act 12 is bad. Attempts to monetize our shared assets need to stop. For every story like Towamencin, there is one like Exeter where residents don’t realize what is happening until it’s too late. We can already see the utility companies shifting strategies as the Chester receiver moves away from ‘sale’ language. We need to repeal Act 12, make citizens harmed by this law whole, and develop comprehensive strategies to help struggling communities without selling out our neighbors.”

On Monday, the 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. 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 Receiver is trying to pick the pockets of CWA ratepayers under the veil of the Federal Bankruptcy courts,” said Noël Brandon, CWA board chair. “Every ratepayer should be absolutely outraged by his actions and they should reach out to their respective elective officials to put a stop to his egregious and unjust actions.” 

In North Versailles Township, residents decried the secretive process of privatization, indicating that they were not informed of the sale until months after the authority agreed to the arrangement. Once they learned of the transaction in May, local residents sprang into action, circulating petitions and turning out their neighbors to public meetings. 

“The inability to get answers and the ping ponging between the Board of Commissioners and the Sanitary Authority was frustrating,” said Joanne Agostini, North Versailles Township resident. “This fueled our efforts to get the word out and pack the recent meetings.” 

“The power of uniting in solidarity, and perseverance, along with the assistance of established organizations was invaluable to this outcome,” said John Conners, North Versailles Township resident.

Driven by public backlash to massive rate increases following privatization, the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission recently revised the regulations governing Act 12 acquisitions. Advocates are hopeful that the revised requirements will provide more transparency into the privatization process. 

“The North Versailles attempted sewer sale is a prime example of a deal done privately in a ‘smoke filled back room,’” said Bill Ferguson, the Co-Founder of Keep Water Affordable. “When citizens figured out what was going on, they rebelled. In this case they were very effective and were able to get the deal undone. It shows the power of organized opposition and the need to watch local politicians carefully. The recent Public Utility Commission changes that now require local governments hold two public meetings beforesigning a sales contract is an important provision. It will shine a bright light on what used to be the cover of darkness for these deals. With the knowledge gained from previous bad experiences, people have better tools to stand up and make their officials accountable.”

This momentum is building support for the Pennsylvania legislature to repeal Act 12 of 2016 by passing legislation to stop predatory water system pricing from Rep. John Lawrence and Sen. John Kane, and to protect Chester Water Authority and other regional water providers by passing Rep. Lisa Borowski’s HB 1442.