Shocking Conflict of Interest: Private Water Companies Partner With Fracking Lobby

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/water/155065/shocking_conflict_of_interest%3A_private_water_companies_partner_with_fracking_lobby/

Two of the country's largest private water utility companies are participants in a massive lobbying effort to expand controversial shale gas drilling -- a heavy industrial activity that promises to enrich the water companies but may also put drinking water resources at risk.

The situation -- which some watchdogs describe as a troubling conflict of interest -- underscores the complex issues raised by the nationwide push to privatize infrastructure and services like water, prisons, and roads.

The water companies -- American Water and Aqua America -- are leading drinking water suppliers in Pennsylvania, where drilling is booming. They also sell water to gas companies -- which use a drilling technique that requires massive amounts of water -- and have expressed interest in treating drilling wastewater, a potentially lucrative opportunity.

These investor-owned, publicly traded water utility companies are also dues-paying "associate members" of the gas industry's powerful Marcellus Shale Coalition, a fact confirmed by coalition spokesman Travis Windle, who says associate members pay $15,000 annually in dues. "Our associate members are really the backbone of the industry," adds Windle.

Both water companies serve millions of people across the country -- Aqua America operates in 11 states and American Water in more than 30.

[aquart]

1. Privatized water should be outlawed as a national security threat.

[Scuba]

2. +1,000

[pscot]

3. T.Boone Pickens tried to corner the water market

in the Texas panhandle. The gas guys have been the early adapters in this one. this one. The Bush family is a stakeholder in the Guarani aquifer that waters half of South America. The scandal lies in the fact that most people don't know or don't care what's happening.

[limpyhobbler]

4. an outrage wrapped in an outrage

This disgusts me in several ways.

1) Water should never be controlled for private profit.
2) The influence of money over government policies.
3) Even with (2) being normal, this conflict of interest shocking.
4) Environmental impact on clean water
5) Carbon impact of natural gas

Probably more that I can't think of.