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the 21st.
AN UPDATE ON THE FILM:
STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA
In Stockton, the Citizens Coalition, Sierra Club, and League of Women Voters filed a lawsuit to stop the privatization of the city's water, wastewater, and stormwater utilities, arguing that under California's Environmental Quality Act the city should have completed an environmental impact statement before approving the contract. In an extraordinary ruling, Superior Court Judge Robert McNatt threw out the privatization, writing that approval of the contract was "an abuse of discretion by the City Council."
The City appealed the ruling and also asked Judge McNatt to order a new trial based on a little-used law on private sector participation in government operations.
The Concerned Citizens Coalition of Stockton have appealed that ruling and now both appeals are pending. In the meantime, water rates have increased, OMI/Thames continues to control the city's water system, and construction of new water facilities is on hold pending the outcome of the legal battle. ******
Bolivia
Rebellions against privatization in Bolivia continued, toppling the government in 2003. The U.S. has increased military aid to the Bolivian Army.
After the contract was cancelled, Bechtel filed a claim against the Bolivian government, demanding $25 million in lost profits. The suit is pending in an international arbitration court. Under restricted bidding procedures that The New York Times called "unacceptable," the company won the contract for water infrastructure in post-war Iraq. The newspaper editorialized; "The award of a contract worth up to $680 million to the Bechtel Group of San Francisco in a competition limited to a handful of American companies can only add to the impression that the United States seeks to profit from the war it waged...." (4/19/03) **** Notice the bloody corporate fingers of Bechtel here. **** The Players
There are a handful of major international private water companies, but two French multinational corporations dominate the sector: Vivendi SA (soon to be called Veolia Environnement) and Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux (soon to be called Ondeo). These two companies own or have interests in water projects in more than 120 countries and each by their own claims provide water to around 100 million people.
Despite Vivendi's dominant position in water privatization, water activities are a small part of the larger company, Vivendi Universal, which was created in December 2000 when it merged with the Seagram Company to form a global media and telecommunications company. The total annual revenue from the interlocking subsidiaries of Vivendi in 2000 exceeded $37 billion, of which more than 25 percent came from the water business.4
Suez is active in more than 100 countries and claims to provide 110 million people with water and wastewater services. Of the 30 biggest cities to award contracts between 1995 and 2000, 20 chose Suez, including Manila, Jakarta, Casablanca, Santiago de Chile, and Atlanta. Suez also purchases stakes or full interests in other water companies: with its $1 billion purchase of United Water Resources, it became the second largest manager of municipal systems in the United States, just behind American Water Works. Suez also purchased Nalco and Calgon in the United States for $4.5 billion, making it the biggest provider of water treatment chemicals for both industry and cities. In 2000, Suez reported profits of 1.9 billion euros on sales of almost 35 billion euros: of this, 9.1 billion euros (or 27 percent) of revenues came from their water businesses. 5
Other companies also have major water interests, including Thames Water and United Utilities in Great Britain, Bechtel and Enron in the United States, and Aguas de Barcelona in Spain. To add to the complexity, however, many of these companies have interlocking directorates or partial interests in each other. For example, in spring 1999, Vivendi purchased U.S. Filter Corporation. United Utilities of the UK has joint ventures with Bechtel. United Water Resources in the United States is partly owned by Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux. **************** The activists in this film said that people should start to form community groups BEFORE the big companies move in. Don't wait until what happened in Stockton happens in your community.
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