Editor’s note: This commentary is by Rosemarie Jackowski, of Bennington, an advocacy journalist and peace activist who is the author of “Banned in Vermont.” She has been the Liberty Union candidate for Vermont attorney general in the past few elections.
[T]he secret water crisis is not in Flint, Michigan. It is in Bennington, Vermont.
Never reported in the news. Rarely written about in the newspaper. Never discussed in open meetings of the town Select Board. Totally ignored by the state Legislature, with the exception of one or two members.
The issue is the new water crisis. Background information: Three years ago a cancer cluster was detected in Hoosick Falls, New York. The government ignored requests for water testing. A private citizen, Michael Hickey, at his own expense, had his water tested. The tests confirmed a high level of PFOA. The contamination was widespread from New York to Vermont. A lawsuit was filed. The offending company, Saint-Gobain, agreed to a $20 million settlement. That seemed like a big success at the moment. The money was used to extend municipal water lines. It was an amazing construction project — very difficult for residents and workers. Imagine digging through many miles of solid granite to lay the pipes.
Now comes the new secret crisis, the big underreported issue. An unknown number of homeowners are at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure because they do not have the income necessary to pay the quarterly water bills. For some elderly and disabled, the water/sewage bill might be 20 percent of their annual income. This is a fixed amount. There are no discounts based on household income or household size. There are no water meters. The result is that an elderly person living alone pays the same amount as a family of 10. There is some justification for opposing meters.
The ultimate irony might be a controversial town project — the splash pad, a water play area planned for Merchant Park. There are many questions about this project. Is the location which takes away parking spaces in the downtown a good choice? Would a better location have been in a residential area where children live, or the rec center where children go for recreation? The major problem might be that this project is a distraction from more important issues. This brings into question the priorities of the town. Access to safe, affordable drinking water should be the number one priority. Have any town grant writers applied for funding?
A class action suit has been filed to give some relief to victims. Some have high levels of PFOA in their blood. Their survival cannot be accurately predicted. Some have damages due to the construction project, etc. The cost of water is the main issue. These homeowners have paid thousands of dollars to have their wells drilled. Now the wells are capped and can never again be used. A fair solution would require the offending company to pay the water bills for at least 20 years and also compensate for the other losses. Some plaintiffs will die long before any settlement is reached.
“… State officials have stressed that their focus and purview is on providing clean drinking water, not seeking damages for affected households and individual residents, which they said is a matter for civil litigation on behalf of private parties …” Brattleboro Reformer – Sept. 1, 2017
Advice has been sought from some local attorneys. The advice has been: “Just don’t pay the bills.” Also, “Just declare bankruptcy.” With all due respect, that is very stupid legal advice. Many on a low fixed income depend on their credit rating to survive. That is the only way they have access in case of medical or other type emergency. That is their only survival tool when a car repair or furnace repair is necessary. When bills are not paid, credit ratings take an instantaneous hit. They never wait years for class action suits to be settled.
Some residents have refused to hook on to the municipal line because of the water bills. Have they decided to put their health at risk rather than take a chance of losing their homes? Maybe those neighbors made the wise decision?
Some of the victims here have worked hard all their lives — survived the Great Depression and World War II. Will they survive the new Bennington water crisis? Only time will tell.
