To the editor:
The headline "French company controls water" (Times, Friday, Nov. 13) might have led one to believe that our elected officials relinquished control of the city of Gloucester's water supply by selling out to a private corporation.
A better headline would have been "Gloucester maintains control of water resources." According to the article, Veolia Water was awarded a five-year contract to operate the city's water treatment plants based on technical expertise and its $3 million-per-year bid. Where in the article does it state that Veolia will control our water — or set our water and sewer rates?
By definition, the city of Gloucester has entered into a private-public partnership with Veolia Water, which is an associate member of The National Association of Water Companies (NAWC). The NAWC defines our agreement with Veolia Water as a contract operation where the private partner operates and maintains the public partner's facilities over a long or short term. As long as our elected officials continue to offer short-term contracts for a set fee to operate and maintain our water and wastewater treatment plants, Gloucester residents will remain in control of its water resources.
The city of Gloucester will only lose control if our elected officials agree to sell our water supply, enter into a long-term public-private partnership, or allow our state legislators to take control of local water supplies through regionalization. Fortunately, as the story indicated, our mayor has already made it clear that our water system is not for sale.
edward dahlmer
Essex Avenue, Gloucester
