Flint & Pittsburgh Day of Action

April 25th marks the ten year anniversary of the beginning of the Flint water crisis. Yet some people in Flint, Pittsburgh, and in cities and towns across the country still don’t have access to clean drinking water. Did you know that around the time that both Flint and Pittsburgh’s water crisis hit, dramatically increasing lead levels, Veolia was leading the charge? Veolia had a contract with PWSA in 2012-2015 for management of water provisions. By 2016, PWSA sued Veolia, stating Veolia had “grossly mismanaged PWSA’s operations, abused its positions of special trust and confidence, and they misled and deceived PWSA.” Veolia countersued PWSA for defamation. By 2018, the groups settled.

It’s baffling that Veolia was never held accountable. It’s even more baffling that Veolia continues to lead the private industry internationally on water, energy and environmental “solutions.” The Our Water Campaign (OWC) will be hosting a Flint Day of Action and Solidarity event in collaboration with Flint Rising out of Flint, MI, Corporate Accountability out of Boston, MA, and the Green New Deal Network out of Brooklyn, NY to call attention to Veolia and the risks that come with privatization of water.

We will kick off the day at the Highland Park Reservoir at 3:30pm with a drum circle and water ritual. At 4pm, a rally will begin and we will be hearing from community members and stakeholders directly impacted by environmental injustice in Allegheny County. At 5pm, we will have food, arts, and entertainment. We will start a live stream of the Negley Run Taskforce/PWSA meeting highlighting the state of PWSA and their current initiatives at 6pm. Please come join us and others across the country to bring attention to corporate corruption, privatization, and the need to protect our water sources.