In January, Bloomfield residents woke up to the sobering news that the Town of Bloomfield and the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) had negotiated a deal with the California-based Niagara Bottling Company. The terms state that Niagara Bottling will build a plant in Bloomfield for the purposes of bottling water. Initially, one line will be opened, possibly as early as mid-November, and will use 450,000 gallons of water per day. If successful, Niagara could expand their new plant to four lines, using a staggering 1.8 million gallons of water every day. The water will be provided by the MDC at new, greatly reduced rates that have been put in place for “large water sales.”
This means that Niagara will benefit by being able to purchase public water for drastically reduced prices and then sell it to areas experiencing drought or other water crises, such as Flint, Michigan. In addition, the town of Bloomfield has granted Niagara a significant tax abatement, which will save the company about $4 million over five years. Finally, in the event of a drought or water shortages, Niagara will be GUARANTEED the contracted amount of water. Other environmental concerns include the tremendous resources used to create plastic water bottles, the waste that generates, and the pollution caused by transportation.
The deal, which was negotiated quickly and without ample opportunity for public comment, was met with great public outcry, first from Bloomfield residents and then from concerned citizens all over the state. Responding to the concerns, Senator Beth Bye has introduce SB 422, which will place a moratorium on all large water sales until our state water plan is complete. It will level the playing field for water and “special sewer rates” for ALL Connecticut customers, preventing water companies from discouraging conservation by giving high volume users lower rates.
Per our friends at Bloomfield Citizens and CGA, SB422 will:
- Level the playing field for water and “special sewer service charges.” CT residents and most businesses are wisely conserving water. Raising rates for them while providing discounts for high volume users- who extract large quantities of our state’s water- is poor public policy.
- Place a moratorium on large water sales until the state water plan is complete. Water is a public resource, not a commodity to be sold for profit.Given climate change, we need new hydrologic data and a comprehensive master plan to secure a safe future for our state’s waters, including its fresh water springs. Not ALL of Connecticut is water-rich.
- Stop out-of-state raids on CT water. Sweetheart discounts for large water users open the door for corporations to profit off our high quality water reserves before we know that ALL of CT will have access to the water it needs for its residents, businesses, and environment. Large water transfers out of state should require a renewable permit.
- Protect residents in a drought. Don’t ask residents to conserve while water bottling companies are sending Connecticut’s water out of state.
Urge your state legislators to support SB422 – TAKE ACTION TODAY!
