Ramos blames Sarno for city’s water issues

May 30, 2023 | Lauren LeBel
llebel@thereminder.com

State Rep. Orlando Ramos
Reminder Publishing file photo

SPRINGFIELD — State Rep. and mayoral candidate Orlando Ramos (D-Springfield) believes Mayor Domenic Sarno is partially responsible for the poor water quality and increasing water and sewer rates in the city of Springfield.

“Springfield residents are being asked to pay more for water of lower quality,” said Ramos in a written statement. “This is simply unacceptable. The mayor has failed to invest in protecting our water system and residents may face health consequences as a result. Despite significant investments by the state, the Sarno administration has failed to act.”

On April 7, the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission notified its customers of an “exceedance of the maximum contaminant level for the disinfection byproduct haloacetic acids.”

Sample results taken on March 1, indicated that their system surpassed the standard or maximum contaminant level established by drinking water regulations for haloacetic acids at seven of the eight sample locations.

The Water and Sewer Commission explained, “The [maximum contaminant level] for [haloacetic acids] is 60 parts per billion calculated as the average of the results from the past four quarters at an individual sample site. All individual sample-site results from March 1 were below the [maximum contaminant level] of 60 parts per billion. Since the annual average at seven of the eight sample sites exceeded 60 parts per billion, however, the results still qualify as an exceedance of the [maximum contaminant level].”

The commission noted that the exceedance was not an immediate health hazard and customers can still consume and use their water as normal. If it were a public health emergency, customers would have been notified within 24 hours.

According to the commission’s website, it has been working to reduce haloacetic acids in the drinking water since 2015. However, the plant has not been upgraded since 1974.

To address this issue, the commission is constructing a new West Parish Filters Water Treatment Plant. The project is currently in its first phase — the design. Construction is slated to begin in 2024.

“The planning process determined that construction of a new water treatment plant at West Parish Filters is the most effective long-term solution to address regulatory compliance for disinfection byproducts,” information from the commission reads.

Ramos said the April 7 letter was the second notification of this kind in less than six months and, in the meantime, customers were still facing rate increases.

“On April 28, the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission announced that the average residence could see a $7.50 a month increase,” he said.

Regardless of spiking inflation and supply chain impacts, the proposed FY24 rates are in line with projected rate increases presented in FY23, according to the commission’s April 24 announcement on the proposed budget. The FY24 budget also calls for increased senior discounts and access to assistance for low-income customers.

Ramos specifically took aim at Sarno’s lack of use of ARPA funding to mitigate water and sewer issues.

He said, “While the state and federal government have contributed significantly to helping address water quality and affordability in the city of Springfield, the mayor has completely ignored the issue.”
He continued, “Mayor Sarno received $126 million in [American Recovery Plan Act] funds and he did not dedicate a single penny towards water quality and affordability. The residents of our city deserve clean water.”

Last year, Ramos secured a $100,000 earmark for the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission to assist in the completion of capital projects that resolve operational resiliency issues. He also voted to allocate $204 million in state ARPA funds for the Clean Water Trust to support water pollution abatement, per- and polyfluorinated substances remediation and other issues.

In August 2020, Ramos — a city councilor at the time — started an online petition opposing proposed water and sewer rate increases. The petition quickly received over 1,000 signatures and because of it, Ramos said the Water and Sewer Commission agreed to reduce its proposed rate hike. Ramos has continued to meet with the commission to discuss infrastructure needs and efforts to sustain affordability.

“We have had several productive conversations and they’ve helped me understand the challenges that they are facing,” said Ramos. “I will continue to be an advocate for more funding at the state level, but I also believe that we are going to need additional assistance from the city as soon as possible.”

On May 22, Ramos issued a press release notifying Springfield residents that he has set up another online petition demanding clean water and lower rates.

The petition, addressed to Sarno and the Springfield Water and Sewer Commissioners, calls on the commission to reject the increase and calls on Sarno to “do his job and fix the water problems by allocating city ARPA funds, not raising costs on residents at a time we can least afford it.”

The petition can be viewed at voteorlandoramos.com/clean-water-for-springfield.

On May 31, the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission hosted a virtual public hearing on the changes made to the proposed FY24 budget. Ramos planned to create and submit another petition before then.

The rate increases and discounts, as well as the Wastewater Infrastructure Renewal Program, were among the items slated to be discussed during the hearing.

While the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission is not operated by the city, Ramos said the mayor has the “exclusive authority” to appoint board members.

When contacted, a representative of the Mayor’s Office said Sarno had no comment.

The Water and Sewer Commission did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.

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