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New Orleans to Drop Privatization of Water and Sewer Systems

April 22, 2004

A plan to turn over the operation of the New Orleans’ water and sewerage system to a private company will be dropped, according to the city mayor Ray Nagin.

For the past five years, the city has considered plans to privatize the Sewerage & Water Board. Mayor Ray Nagin said the second set of draft bids failed to attract at least three private companies.

The effort began in 1999 as a way to stave off future rate increases by holding down costs. The board currently faces having to spend up to $650 million to fix leaky sewer pipes that pollute Lake Pontchartrain.

The mayor said recently that enough private companies are not showing interest in the proposal.

Source: AP

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