Who foots the bill?
With clean water in short supply, residents wonder where the bucks start
By Erika McDonald

A report released by the Environmental Protection Agency in October projected a gap of more than $500 billion in unmet water needs in the United States over 20 years.

The so-called gap analysis of water infrastructure needs found an increase in spending on the nation’s network of treatment plants by 3 percent above the rate of inflation would be required for cities and towns to meet pressing needs.
By 2019, systems could be short $263 billion for drinking water and $271 billion for wastewater. The money would be needed to replace aging pipes, maintain existing facilities and build new ones to meet rising demand, EPA officials said. Even with the recommended spending increases, the gaps could still be as much as $45 billion for drinking water and $31 billion for wastewater.

The report made no recommendation on who should pick up the tab.

As local residents are finding out, they are often the ones who bear the financial burden for improving inadequate infrastructure and cleaning up contaminated water.

In Fresno, Fort Bend County some residents, desperate for cleanwater, have received fines for building their own wells and septic systems.

In February, voters in Fresno, Fort Bend County will consider a ballot initiative that would quadruple property taxes, now 25 cents per $100, to $1 to help fund construction of water and wastewater facilities. County commissioners said the money would be used to drill two water wells in the next year and a half and to construct a sanitary sewer plant. The county would then lay water pipelines with all 1,500 homes hooked up to the system by May, 2005.

“That’s not good enough,” said Fresno resident Rodrigo Carreon. He suggested the county should bear the brunt of the cost for clean water rather than the low-income residents for whom clean water is a matter of life and death.

“Water is life,” he said. “They’re talking about building and connecting (water and sewer facilities) by 2005, but residents who live here can’t afford to pay higher taxes.”

According to precinct 1 Commissioner Tom Stavinoha, county commissioners are doing their part. In October, they appropriated $3 million and helped to secure another $400,000 in community development block grants for the wastewater and water facilities, in addition to recommending the tax increase.

Similar water woes are facing some homeowners in Cypress-Fairbanks, Harris County where 33 wells were contaminated with perchloroethylene, a cancer-causing chemical commonly used in dry cleaning.

Although the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality installed carbon filters on all wells containing dangerous levels of the chemical, residents are looking for a long-term solution. They were disappointed when TCEQ referred the contaminated wells for the federal Superfund Site Discovery and Assessment Program, which cleans up sites that pose a public health or environmental risk. Residents fear that Superfund status will dramatically lower their property values and that it could take up to 10 years for the wells to be cleaned.

They are also angry that TCEQ has not fined Bell Dry Cleaners (who last month changed their name to King Cleaners), which the agency found responsible for leaking the chemical. The agency said it chose not to fine Bell because it could not establish that the cleaners intentionally emitted the chemical and because of the company’s financial inadequacies. Based on financial documents, reviewed by TCEQ, the cleaner does not have enough money to pay for the cleanup.

Frustrated by what they call TCEQ’s lack of communication, residents said they sought support from Harris County officials. At a recent Commissioners Court meeting, a resident with a tainted well called on the county to pay the estimated $400,000 it would cost to hook up to a nearby municipal utility district. They were informed by Precinct 4 Commissioner Jerry Eversole, some of whose constituents are affected by the contaminated wells, that the county was not responsible.

“This water situation is a state issue,” Eversole said. “I have no authority to step in.” Harris County Freshwater Supply District 61 has since agreed to assess the cost of hooking the residents up to its water supply and providing sewage services, but funding remains a problem.

Running out of options, residents may have to apply for a Texas Water Development Board loan. Since public grants are not available, residents would still shoulder the financial burden because they would have to repay the loan.

zCarreon said he thinks more federal money is needed to provide clean water to overburdened citizens. But EPA officials said this was unlikely. Earlier this year, the Bush administration opposed a House plan to make billions more available to states for wastewater projects saying Congress’ priority should be defense spending.