Corey W. McDonald reports for the Jersey Journal:
HOBOKEN — The nearly 25-year relationship between the city and Suez, the company operating the city’s water system, took an ugly turn Tuesday when Mayor Ravi Bhalla said he intends to sue the company and seek a new operator following a rash of water main breaks.
Bhalla, during a 10 a.m. press conference outside City Hall, declared a city-wide emergency after a string of water main breaks that the city has “never before seen.”
“In our view, there can only be one explanation: Suez has mismanaged our system,” Bhalla said.
Suez has been contracted with the city since 1994. City officials said Tuesday there have been 14 water main breaks over a 64-day period, an “anomaly” in the summer months.
“Needless to say, decisive action is appropriate and necessary to address the spike in water main breaks,” he said, adding that the water remains safe to drink.
Bhalla said the city intends to file a lawsuit against Suez “if, as we suspect, our professionals confirm that the cause of the water main breaks is the result of Suez’s mismanagement of our water main system.”
He will seek authorization from the City Council during the body’s regular meeting on Sept. 5 to retain legal counsel for the litigation. Bhalla said his administration will also seek council approval to rebid the city’s water management.
But during its own press conference at 11 a.m., the water company defended itself against accusations of mismanagement and refuted the city’s claims.
Rich Henning, a senior vice president of Suez, said that for the past 17 years, the city has averaged 12 water main breaks during the months of July and August — on par with what the city cast as an anomaly.
Annually, the city has averaged 111 water main breaks, about one break every three days, Henning added.
“One-hundred-year-old pipes have outlasted their usefulness and, truthfully, it is time for the city to finance and get ready to (install) infrastructure that meets the greatness of this city,” Henning said.
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