Veolia Environnement

A Profile of the
World’s Largest
Water Service
Corporation

eu ope
 Veolia Water Avoids Countries with the Greatest Water Access Needs

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Veolia Environnement
A Profile of the World’s Largest Water Service Corporation

Executive Summary...........................................................................................................................................................iv

Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................................1

A Brief History: From Regional Water Company to Media Conglomerate...............................................................1

The Veolia Brand: From Recovery to Relapse..........................................................................................................2

A Failed Corporate Water Strategy.......................................................................................................................................2

Pursuing Long-Term Control to Little Avail..............................................................................................................2

Dodging Competition...........................................................................................................................................3

Veolia’s Regional Targets........................................................................................................................................3

Eurocentric with a French Epicenter....................................................................................................................................4

France: Problems on the Home Front....................................................................................................................4

Elsewhere in Western Europe................................................................................................................................5

The Gaze Shifts Eastward...................................................................................................................................................6

Targeting Eastern Europe.......................................................................................................................................6

Treatment Deals in China......................................................................................................................................6

Uncertainty in the Face of Democratic Uprisings in Western Asia and North Africa...............................................7

Failure in Australia.................................................................................................................................................7

Rough Waters in North America.........................................................................................................................................8

Public Operation Works Better in the United States...............................................................................................8

In Conflict with the Human Right to Water........................................................................................................................9

Africa: “Not a Priority”.........................................................................................................................................9

Kicked Out Across South America.......................................................................................................................10

A Growing Movement for Public Water.............................................................................................................................10

Endnotes..........................................................................................................................................................................11
Executive Summary
Veolia Environnement is the largest water service company in the world. From its headquarters in Paris, Veolia operates
hundreds of subsidiaries under many names in dozens of countries. Despite its international presence, the core of its
operations remains in France.  

A Failed Corporate Strategy

Veolia’s corporate profits plummeted in 2008 and remained languid through 2010. In the water division, the company
has suffered major losses from municipalizations and has struggled to obtain new long-term privatizations. Despite its
disappointing performance, the company continued many of the same strategies in 2011 that it had used over the preced-
ing five years:

Seek long-term control of water services. It sought long-term, complex contracts to control entire municipal water and
sewer systems. Such arrangements, however, seem to be increasingly rare for the company.

Dodge competition. For Veolia, complex deals were appealing because they involved less competition. The company and
several of its peers have come under the scrutiny of anti-trust regulators in the European Union.

Target Europe and Asia. Veolia has focused half of its new growth investments in Europe, particularly Eastern Europe,
where it has the financial backing of multilateral lending institutions. The company is also targeting China.

A Growing Movement for Public Water

Consumers worldwide report similar problems when Veolia runs their water and sewer systems. They say the company
charges high rates, provides poor service and fails to make promised improvements.

Many municipalities across France and the United States have taken back their water systems from Veolia to improve
service and lower costs. Even its home city of Paris ended its privatization deal with the company and resumed public
operation to save money for consumers. Elsewhere, the fight for public water continues. Communities from Germany to
Morocco are seeking to remove Veolia and restore public control of their water resources.

Facts and Figures: Veolia Environnement

Headquarters: Paris, France
Divisions: Water, Environmental, Energy and Transportation Services1
Chief Executive Officer: Antoine Frérot2
Employees: 312,5903

Financials (year-end 2010)

Revenue: €34.8 billion ($46.5 billion)
Net Profit: €581 million ($776 million)
Net Financial Debt: €15.2 billion ($20.3 billion)4

Veolia Water A division of Veolia Environnement

Locations: 66 countries
Population Served: 95 million with drinking water service
68 million with wastewater service5
Introduction

V eolia Environnement is the world’s largest water and sewer service corporation,
serving 95 million people with drinking water and 68 million people with sewer
service globally.6 In 2010, the Paris-based multinational made €35 billion in revenue
— more than a third of which came from its water operations — amounting to €581
million in net profit for its owners.7

As of December 2009, its water division operated at least
728 different entities in 66 countries.8 Because of this,
people know the company by a variety names, including
United Water in Australia and New Zealand, PVK in the
Czech Republic, and Apa Nova in Romania.9 No matter
what they call it, their stories are similar. Consumers world-
wide have reported high rates, poor service and inadequate
investment after Veolia took over their water and sewer
systems.
A Brief History: From Regional Water Company
to Media Conglomerate
Veolia’s roots are firmly French. In 1853, the company took
form under the name Compagnie Générale des Eaux to
manage water systems in France. In the 1980s, after more
than a century as mainly a regional water provider, the
company began a period of marked international expan-
sion. By the end of the 20th century, it had transformed into
a multinational media conglomerate called Vivendi.10
Jean-Marie Messier became chief executive officer in 1996
and led the company on a massive buying spree, culminat-
ing in 2000 with a $34 billion takeover of the beverage
giant Seagram’s entertainment division, whose notable
assets included Universal Studios and Universal Music. By
2002, after six years of hasty and overpriced acquisitions,
the company had accrued €33 billion in debt. Its bonds
were downgraded to “junk” status, banks refused to extend
any more credit and its stock price plummeted 60 percent.
Confronted with the company’s ever-weakening financial
situation, the board of directors ousted Messier.11
The disgraced former executive soon found himself in legal
trouble over claims that he disguised the company’s finan-
cial problems and misled investors. In 2003, the U.S. Secu-
rities and Exchange Commission fined him $1 million and
ordered him to relinquish his €21 million severance pack-
age.12 In 2011, a Paris court levied an additional €150,000
fine and gave him a three-year suspended sentence for
misusing company funds.13
 Veolia Environnement: A Profile of the
World’s Largest Water Service Corporation
The Veolia Brand: From Recovery to Relapse
Vivendi spun off its water and environmental services divi-
sion as Vivendi Environnement in 2000.14 The media con-
glomerate no longer held a controlling stake in the water
company by 200215 and had completely divested from it by
2006.16 Vivendi Environnement adopted the moniker Veolia
Environnement in 2003,17 in what seemed to be an attempt
to distance itself from its disreputable former owner.
Henri Proglio became head of the new company in 2000
and launched a program to rid it of Messier’s more un-
wieldy purchases. For example, he auctioned off, piece by
piece, most of U.S. Filter, a large U.S. water treatment com-
pany that Vivendi had acquired for $6.2 billion in 1999.18
It lost $4 billion when it sold most of U.S. Filter to Siemens
in 2004.19
After recovering from some of Vivendi’s excesses, Veolia
began a new expansion program, buying assorted envi-
ronmental service companies.20 In 2007 and 2008, Veolia
spent about €4 billion on acquisitions, including deleteri-
ous takeovers of large German and Italian waste manage-
ment firms.21 The company’s 2008 returns were a wake-up
call; because of the economic downturn and a €430 mil-
lion loss in the value of its waste management business, the
company’s profit fell by half and its market value dropped
70 percent.22
“It’s in this kind of business that we
get the best margins, because we have
few competitors.” – Antoine Frérot, on
complex privatizations
In 2009, Veolia made a volte-face on its acquisition strategy
and started pruning its businesses. Proglio assured investors,
“For 2009, we have one priority, which is to improve profit-
ability.”23 It aimed to trim operating costs by €280 million
and cut its net investments by at least 40 percent.24 From
2009 to 2010, the company sold off €2.5 billion in assets. It
planned another €4 billion in divestments through 2013.25
Proglio, who led the company through both recovery and
relapse, resigned as chief executive officer at the end of
2009, although he controversially remained chair of its
board of directors for another year. French President Nico-
las Sarkozy, a personal friend of his, had appointed him to
head Électricité de France, the giant state-controlled power
company.26 Antoine Frérot was his replacement. Frérot had
led Veolia’s water division for six years and was “the most
loyal” of the company’s four divisional heads, according to
one board member. An analyst at Exane BNP told Reuters
that, among other things, Frérot also seemed unlikely to
“go on a mad acquisition spree.”27
2
Withering Growth in Privatization:
Total Value of Veolia Water’s Principal New
Privatization Deals (in billions of euros)
€12
€10.2
€10
€8
€7.3
€6
€4
€3.0
€1.9
€2
€0.4
0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Note: Estimated cumulative revenue (not adjusted for inflation) of prin-
cipal new water contracts with public agencies as reported in Veolia
Environnement’s annual financial filings with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission from 2006 to 2010. Values exclude renewals
and contracts with private companies.
A Failed Corporate Water Strategy
Pursuing Long-Term Control to Little Avail
In the water sector, Veolia aimed for concessions that gave
it long-term control of municipal water and sewer sys-
tems.28 It sought, in Frérot’s words, “much more complex
contracts where we manage the entire water chain” and
lengthy contracts because “you can’t create wealth in these
complex deals in the short term.”29 The company wanted
greater control, but without the financial responsibilities
that usually came with it. It continued to shun investing its
own money in projects.30
For Veolia, new large privatizations have become rare.
From 2005 to 2009, the company’s principal new contracts
with public authorities became smaller in value, shorter in
length and narrower in scope. As a result, the major new
privatization deals it signed in 2009 were worth 97 percent
less than those signed in 2005.31
As its privatization prospects dwindled, building and
operating treatment plants became an increasingly impor-
tant source of new revenue. These deals tended to be less
valuable than concession contracts.32 Perhaps because of
that, Frérot told investors in 2010, “We’re no longer really
interested in building [build-operate-transfer] contracts for
water treatment plants.”33 The company wanted to do more
than just build and operate individual treatment plants; it
wanted to run entire water utilities, from treatment to distri-
bution to billing.
 Food & Water Europe
For 2010, this water strategy was a bust. Of its main new
water contracts, none were long-term concessions of entire
water utilities.34 The company obtained no new construc-
tion project that could replace three major plants com-
pleted in West Asia, and it was unable to offset the revenue
it lost when Paris remunicipalized its water system.35 Its
declining profitability reflected these failures; Veolia Wa-
ter’s adjusted operating income fell 11 percent from the
preceding year.36
As a result, Veolia recalibrated its water strategy slightly
in 2011. It decided to resume targeting treatment deals,
specifically for industrial plants in Brazil, Russia, India and
China. Nonetheless, it also continued to prioritize large
municipal concessions.37 Frérot explained the appeal of
these complex contracts to investors in 2010: “It’s in this
kind of business that we get the best margins, because we
have few competitors.”38
Dodging Competition
Competition in the water service sector is limited.39 For
example, during 2001, one-third of French water contracts
that came up for renewal received a bid from only one
company.40 Globally, Veolia and fellow Parisian company
Suez Environnement dominate the water market.41 In
France, they served four out of five consumers who had
privatized water service in 2008,42 and anti-trust regula-
tors have called into question certain interactions between
these two companies.43
Veolia’s Geographic Targets: Planned
Investments in New Projects, 2011-2013
Emerging Eastern
Countries Europe
21% 30%
Western
Europe
22% North
America
27%
Source: Veolia Environnement. Presentation. 2010 Annual Results.
March 4, 2011 at 47.
Veolia and Suez had jointly owned at least nine companies
that served communities in France, but in 2002, the French
Competition Council ruled that the ventures constituted a
“collective dominant position” and ordered their dismantle-
ment. In March 2010, after a lengthy legal fight, the compa-
nies finally completed unwinding them, with Veolia selling
its stake in six firms and assuming full control of three.44
A month later, in April 2010, the European Commission
raided the offices of several French water companies,
including Veolia, looking for evidence of violations of EU
competition law. The commission said that it had reason to
believe that the firms might be colluding on bids for French
water management contracts and imposing prices that are
“unfair to local communities and ultimately to consumers.”45
The investigation examined at least two of Veolia’s con-
tracts, notably including its arrangement with Syndicat des
Eaux d’Ile de France (SEDIF),46 which according to Frérot,
was a “flagship contract” used “as a reference for winning
other contracts.”47 The French consumer group UFC-Que
Choisir has cast doubt on the deal’s merit. It found in 2008
that the company overcharged SEDIF by €80 million to
€90 million.48
Veolia had to agree to cut its profit in half to renew its con-
tract with SEDIF in 2010. The 12-year, €3 billion deal was
the largest of its kind in Europe. Even though Suez was its
only real rival, Frérot told the water industry trade journal
Global Water Intelligence, “The competition for SEDIF was
the most competitive we have had in the past 20 years in
France and elsewhere.”49
Veolia Water’s Regional Targets
Veolia’s water privatization plans centered on two conti-
nents:
• Europe, particularly France, Germany and the United
Kingdom, as well as Eastern European countries
• Asia, predominately China.50
3
 Veolia Environnement: A Profile of the
World’s Largest Water Service Corporation
For 2011 to 2013, the company directed half of its growth
activity to Europe and about one-fifth to “emerging coun-
tries,” with China being the dominant target.51
With this focus, the company sought to exploit the fiscal
hardships that many governments face, as well as their
increasingly stringent environmental regulations.52 Frérot
seemed to welcome the public sector’s financial problems,
telling a conference call in 2011:
“Looking on the plus side, we have public finance
constraints, which drive the need for economic effi-
ciency. This is bringing in more business for us because
there is more and more of an openness to concessions,
private management, etc. And also, despite the crisis,
there are more and more stringent environmental regu-
lations being introduced, and that plays in our favor.”53
Although budget shortfalls have provided some public of-
ficials with a smokescreen for their privatization schemes,
they have also inspired a number of other local govern-
ments to reassess and end existing water contracts to save
money. In addition to declining water use, Frérot cited
“public sector competition” as the company’s major chal-
lenge in the water sector, notably in France.54
The following is an account of Veolia Water’s activities and
shortcomings in various countries and settings. In some
cases, the company’s failures to provide adequate and safe
water to its customers are particularly grievous.
Where Does Veolia Make Its Money?
2010 Revenues, by Geographic Area
Africa/South
America 6%
Asia/Pacific 8%
North
America 9% France
40%
Europe
(Excluding
France)
37%
Source: Veolia Environnement. Presentation. “2010 Annual Results.”
March 4, 2011 at 12.
4
Eurocentric with a French Epicenter
Despite its international presence, during 2010, Veolia
made more than three-quarters of its revenue in Europe,55
with 60 percent of its operating cash flow from the west-
ern part of the continent.56 Nonetheless, it sought further
expansion in the region. In a 2010 interview with the Dow
Jones Newswire, Frérot said, “I’m convinced that Europe,
the European Union, will offer substantial growth oppor-
tunities.”57 Much of its new privatization activity targeted
Eastern Europe.58
France: Problems on the Home Front
Veolia has retained a strong French identity. Its single
largest shareholder, as of December 2010, was Caisse des
Dépôts et Consignations, a financial institution controlled
by the French government.59 Caisse des Dépôts et Con-
signations held a seat on Veolia’s board of directors, and
together with state-controlled Électricité de France, owned
13 percent of the company.60
Veolia was the largest private water operator in France,
controlling 39 percent of the market in 2008.61 It served
25 million people with drinking water and 16 million with
wastewater service throughout France.62 Although the com-
pany sought to expand there,63 it was having a hard enough
time keeping the contracts it already had.
The Fight for Public Water
Paris: Veolia lost the water management deal for its home
city of Paris at the end of 2009 when its contract expired.
The city decided to bring the operation in-house to save
money and stabilize water rates.64 The company had oper-
ated part of the Parisian water system, which served 2 mil-
lion people, for nearly 25 years.65 In 2011, a year after tak-
ing over the water services, the new public utility projected
€35 million in annual savings and the mayor announced
plans to reduce water prices by 8 percent.66
Cherbourg Urban Community: In 2005, the Cherbourg
Urban Community municipalized its water system, ending
a management deal with Veolia to lower rates and improve
services.67
Montbéliard: In 2010, Montbéliard decided to terminate its
30-year management contract with Veolia seven years early
because of high rates. The community intended to begin
public operation of the system in 2015.68
Saint-Malo: In February 2011, the mayor of Saint-Malo
in Brittany, France, announced that he wanted to munici-
palize the water system when the city’s lease with Veolia
expired the following year.69
Olivet: In 2009, Veolia lost the last of a series of court
hearings to activist group le Groupe d’Action Municipale
 Food & Water Europe
d’Olivet (GAMO). The French State Council decided that
a law regulating contract terms applied to preexisting
privatizations and thus limited their length to 20 years from
when the law went into effect in 1995.70 In France, where
it is estimated that four-fifths of the population is served by
private water systems, this has huge consequences, poten-
tially affecting hundreds of contracts.71
GAMO had been fighting Veolia and its high rates since
1997.72 The company first took control of the Olivet wa-
ter system in 1933 with a 99-year concession contract.
Originally the contract was set to run until 2032,73 but the
latest ruling stipulates that it — along with other long-term
contracts — must be economically justified in 2015 to
run to maturity.74 While this means that for the time being
Olivet is stuck with Veolia, it also means that many private
water companies in France will now feel pressure to shape
up their behavior.75
Toulouse: In 2010, following an audit of its contract, Tou-
louse negotiated with Veolia to cut water prices by 25 per-
cent.76 Since 1990, when the 30-year concession contract
was signed, water rates had risen at twice the rate of infla-
tion.77 The mayor of Toulouse indicated that the city would
consider public operation of the system when the contract
expires in 2020,78 but community group Eau Secours 31
called for more immediate action.79
Elsewhere in Western Europe
Dubious Sewage Shutdown in Brussels, Belgium
In December 2009, Veolia subsidiary Aquiris unilaterally
shut down its North Brussels wastewater treatment plant,
allowing raw sewage from 1.4 million inhabitants to flow
into the Senne, Scheldt and Rupel Rivers for 10 days. A re-
port by a panel of independent experts concluded that the
company had no legitimate reason for the shutdown.80
Aquiris won a contract to build and operate this plant in
2001 with a proposal to use a wet air oxidation process
known as Athos, a relatively new technology that had
never before been tested on urban wastewater of such a
large scale.81 It has yet to be determined who will pay the
estimated €80 million of required improvements.82
Seeking Public Water in Berlin, Germany
In a nearly unanimous referendum in February 2011, the
people of Berlin voted to expose secret details of the city-
state’s water privatization deal with Veolia and German
utility RWE.83 In 2004, the government had clandestinely
agreed to contract provisions that guaranteed profit to the
private companies, circumventing a 1999 court decision
that found profit guarantees unconstitutional.84
Berlin partially privatized its water and sewer systems in
1999, when Veolia and RWE bought a 49.9 percent stake
in the Berlin Waterworks (Berliner Wasserbetriebe) and
received a 30-year management contract.85 Since then, the
utility has downsized the workforce by nearly 1,000 jobs
and increased water rates by 25 percent.86
Talk of public reacquisition of the utility has been grow-
ing in the city.87 “I consider this backing for the goal of the
senate to buy back formerly privatized parts of the water
works,” Mayor Klaus Wowereit said of the referendum in
The Local.88 Before the local referendum, the government
had decided to negotiate with RWE to purchase the com-
pany’s share in the water utility.89
Veolia, however, hindered a full remunicipalization by
refusing to relinquish its stake.90 Michael Cunnac, the head
of the company’s Berlin branch, told the Inter Press Service
News Agency in 2010, “An end to the concession is out of
[the] question.”91
5
 Veolia Environnement: A Profile of the
World’s Largest Water Service Corporation

The Gaze Shifts Eastward

Over the last decade, Veolia has aggressively expanded
through Central and Eastern Europe and China.92 For
“these two major geographical platforms,” Frérot expected
“double-digit growth” over the next few years.93

Targeting Eastern Europe

For 2011 to 2013, Veolia’s principal geographic target was
Eastern Europe, with 30 percent of its new investments di-
rected there.94 Frérot told investors in early 2011, “We have
a strong presence in Western Europe, and we are going to
have a strong presence in Central and Eastern Europe.”95

In 2010, Veolia served 9.5 million people with drinking

water and 8.9 million people with wastewater treatment
in Central and Eastern Europe, making €873 million in
revenue. Its presence was particularly strong in the Czech
Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.96

International financial institutions have backed Veolia Wa-

ter’s privatization efforts in the region. The European Bank
for Reconstruction and Development has invested €175
million into Veolia Voda, Veolia Water’s Eastern European
arm, since 2007.97 In June 2010, the World Bank Group’s
International Finance Corporation announced that it too
would invest as much as €100 million into the company.98
That month, the company signed a deal to buy United
Utilities’ water operations in Sofia, Bulgaria; Tallinn, Esto-
nia; and Bielsko Biala, Poland.99
Despite the subsidies, failure has followed the company. It
has lost a number of privatization contracts, including in
Russia; Tbilisi, Georgia; Almaty, Kazakhstan; and Bukhara
and Smarkand, Uzbekistan.100
A Harmful Contract in Bucharest, Romania
Bucharest has encountered many problems since Veolia
subsidiary Apa Nova took over its water and sewer services
in 2000. Within three years, 350,000 people — about 20
percent of the consumer base — had complained about the
company’s prices and billing practices, causing the deal to
come under the scrutiny of national regulators.101 By 2007,
because of ongoing invoice irregularities and inadequate
service, the general mayor at the time was calling the con-
tract harmful.102
In 2008, the European Court of Human Rights ordered
Romania to pay €10,000 in damages to a Bucharest family
who had lacked drinking water for seven years. It found
that the government failed to enforce a local court ruling
that required Apa Nova to restore the household’s ser-
vice.103 The next year, Neculai Onţanu, local mayor of Sec-
tor 2 in the city, asked the city to terminate or modify the
contract, accusing Apa Nova of refusing to extend service
to areas in his district.104 Later that year, the city amended
the 25-year concession contract after the company con-
ceded to waive the city’s debts and to make additional
investments.105
Anger over Rate Hikes in Sofia, Bulgaria
In February 2011, just three months after being taken over
by Veolia, the company’s local subsidiary, Sofiyska Voda,
increased water rates by 9 percent in Sofia and threatened
to shut off the water service of customers who failed to pay
their bills. Sofiyska Voda had operated the water system
in the Bulgarian capital since 2000 when it received the
country’s only water service concession. By 2011, critics
were accusing the private company of underinvestment,
poor upkeep and excessive water loss. It was losing an av-
erage of 60 percent of its water and as much as 90 percent
in some areas.106
Treatment Deals in China
Frérot said that Veolia was targeting China because its
environmental regulations and urban issues were similar
to Europe’s.107 The government planned to invest 2 trillion
yuan ($304 billion) on water projects from 2011 to 2015,108
and Veolia presumably wanted a piece of the action.
According to World Bank data, since 1997, Veolia has
had 20 major water privatization deals in China, mostly to
build and operate treatment plants.109 At first the company
struggled to persuade Chinese municipalities to privatize
an entire water and sewer utility,110 but in 2002, Veolia
obtained the country’s first full-service water concession.
Through a 50-year contract, the company took over the
water services for 2.65 million people in the Shanghai-
Pudong District.111 By 2010, Veolia served drinking water
to 40 million people in the country.112

6
 Food & Water Europe
“When we began in China, it began through BOTs [build-
operate-transfer contracts],” Frérot told Global Water Intelli-
gence. “It has taken six years to convince one municipality
to outsource the global service in Shanghai. In other parts
of the world, it takes longer. It takes ten years. That will be
the case in the Middle East.”113
Uncertainty in the Face of Democratic Uprisings
in Western Asia and North Africa
Veolia had sought to expand in Northern Africa and
Western Asia, particularly the Persian Gulf states,114 but by
March 2011, as protests for political reform surged across
the region, the company no longer specifically listed the
area as a target.115
A year before, in 2010, the company entered into a long-
term strategic partnership with Qatari Diar, a sovereign
wealth fund of the state of Qatar, to work on infrastructure
and utility projects in Western Asia and Northern Africa.
As part of the deal, the fund acquired a 5 percent stake in
Veolia and obtained a seat on its Board of Directors.116
At the time, the company didn’t expect an immediate surge
of activity in the region but viewed its long-term prospects
favorably. It planned to get a foothold through desalination
projects.117 It had several contracts with the Sultanate of
Oman, including one it obtained in January 2011 to help
run the water system in the Port of Sohar.118
Because of its relationships with authoritarian regimes, the
company may revisit its involvement in certain countries
as pro-democracy movements gain momentum. In early
2011, youth-led demonstrations toppled long-standing
leaders in Tunisia and Egypt and invigorated a wave of
popular uprisings. Protests for jobs and reform had erupted
even in Port of Sohar, Oman.
Trying to Shake Off Water Privatization in Morocco
On February 19, 2011, a day before but not directly related
to massive nationwide protests for democratic reform, citi-
zen group Attac Maroc held a sit-in at Tangiers city hall to
demand the termination of the city’s privatization contract
with Veolia subsidiary Amendis. Hundreds of protesters,
fed up with high utility rates, then marched to and attacked
offices associated with the French firm.119 The company ob-
tained a 25-year concession to run the electricity and water
distribution systems in Tangiers and Tetouan in 2001.120
A month before the sit-in, a group of Moroccan NGOs
called for greater transparency, lower prices and better
control of the water services of Redal, Veolia’s subsidiary in
Rabat.121 Veolia (then Vivendi) bought Redal from foreign
investors in 2002 and took over the remaining 26 years
of a concession contract to run the water, wastewater and
electricity services in the Moroccan capital.122 By 2010, the
company claimed it was owed 760 million Moroccan dir-
ham ($94 million), and intended to use this debt as lever-
age to renegotiate its investment commitments.123
In an open letter to the mayor of Rabat, the organizations
asserted that water rates in Rabat were notably higher than
comparable cities, and the government made unauthorized
transfers of large sums to Veolia. According to these groups,
Veolia was lagging 25 percent — three years behind — in
promised infrastructure work, which included improving
the sewer system.124
Failure in Australia
In addition to the Persian Gulf, Australia had been a target
for Veolia’s desalination — as well as general water priva-
tization — efforts, but experiences there should serve as a
warning.
A White Elephant in Tugun
In Australia’s Gold Coast region, many critics are calling
Veolia’s newly finished but now unnecessary $1.2 billion
desalination plant a “white elephant.”125 The plant — the
most expensive of its kind in Australia — is a drain of
public resources.126 In March 2010, when reservoirs in
the region were nearly full, the desalination plant still had
to operate at a minimum of one-third capacity, costing
$32,000 a day.127 The desalinated water costs more than
three times as much as reservoir water.128
Veolia obtained a contract to design, build and operate
the plant in 2006.129 Soon after the plant opened, concrete
cracked and other components corroded due to the use
of substandard steel.130 An interview with an anonymous
7
 Veolia Environnement: A Profile of the
World’s Largest Water Service Corporation
former contractor from the plant revealed that over-chlo-
rinated water caused an additional $6 million in damage.
“This is a major project and this sort of stuff should never
have happened,” he told the Courier Mail.131
Removed from Adelaide
In 2011, Veolia-owned United Water lost its contract in
Adelaide132 and had to repay $14 million that it overbilled
taxpayers from 2001 to 2006.133 The company took over
Adelaide’s water and wastewater services in 1995, when it
obtained a 15-year, $1.5 billion deal.134 The South Austra-
lian government, which sued United Water to recoup the
overcharges,135 decided against keeping the company when
its contract expired in 2011.136
Billing issues were not the only problem. United Water
came under fire in February 2004 after nearly a million li-
ters of raw sewage overflowed into a creek and onto a local
beach.137 There were another two spills later that year,138
angering South Australian Environment Minister John Hill.
“I’m sick of the excuses about why it’s happened,” Hill told
ABC News. “It’s just not acceptable.”139
8
Rough Waters in North America
Veolia Water North America, headquartered in Chicago,
Ill., is the largest private operator of public water and sewer
systems in North America.140 In the early 2000s, after
high-profile failures in major cities, the company shifted its
strategy and set its sights on smaller contracts that involved
less public opposition and private competition.141 By 2010,
the company had refocused its efforts back to larger deals
to capitalize on the daunting fiscal crisis afflicting many
cities in the wake of the recent recession.142
Public Operation Works Better in the United
States
Veolia’s growth in the United States has been lackluster. In
2009, despite obtaining seven new contracts, Veolia Water
North America lost a net of three public-sector clients,
according to data compiled by industry publication Public
Works Financing.143 Over the five-year period from 2005 to
2009, the number of its governmental clients fell slightly,
from 173 to 166.144
A number of cities and towns have ended arrangements
with the company and resumed public operation of their
systems to save money or improve service. This includes
deals in Coxsackie, N.Y.,145 and Overton, Texas,146 as well
as Petaluma, Calif., and Burley, Idaho.
The company hasn’t given up. It saw opportunity in the
water supply issues facing California,147 and the state has
become the front line of its fight to privatize U.S. water
systems. Laurent Auguste, head of Veolia Water Americas,
wanted to take on consumer organizations that support
public control of water services.148 With this confrontation-
al approach, in 2010, it launched an aggressive campaign
against a community group that sought to prevent it from
taking over their wastewater treatment plant in Novato,
California. Veolia narrowly won a public vote on the issue
after spending $240,000 electioneering.149
Indianapolis, Indiana: Sinking the Flagship
Veolia lost its largest water contract in the United States in
2010 when Indianapolis terminated it more than a decade
early.
The company received a 20-year, $1.5 billion deal to man-
age the city’s water system in 2002.150 Since then, workers,
consumers and government officials alike have all had
problems:
• Employees claimed the company cut their benefits by
more than $50 million.151
• Residents accused the company of using unfair billing
practices and overcharging them.152
 Food & Water Europe
• A city councilmember criticized the company for cut-
ting back on staffing, water testing, treatment chemi-
cals and maintenance, and other members questioned
whether the company had a financial incentive to
fudge quality tests.153
The company apparently lowballed its bid to win the deal,
but after several years of multimillion-dollar losses,154
the company finagled major concessions from the city. A
controversial contract amendment signed in 2007 shifted
millions of dollars in liabilities from the company to the
city while increasing city’s annual payment to the company
by $1.9 million.155 In total, the amendment cost the city
more than $144 million.156 State regulators refused to allow
the city to recoup some of these additional expenses in a
rate increase.157
By 2010, with infrastructure needs mounting, the city
opted to wash its hands of the water utility altogether and
decided to sell it, along with the sewer system, to the non-
profit Citizens Energy Group.158 As part of the transfer, the
city agreed to pay Veolia $29 million to terminate the deal
early. Citizens Energy believed it could realize savings not
possible within the constraints of the contract.159
Petaluma, Calif.: In 2007, after nearly 30 years of private
operation of its wastewater treatment plant, the city council
unanimously voted to take back the system from Veolia,
expecting to save 10 percent ($1.6 million) in the first three
years of public operation.160
Burley, Idaho: In 2009, after cancelling its wastewater con-
tract with Veolia, the city had to make thousands of dollars
in repairs to the treatment plant, blaming the company’s
neglect and poor maintenance.161
Tama, Iowa: In 2011, after nearly 20 years of private opera-
tion of its water and sewer systems, Tama, Iowa, sought to
terminate its contract with Veolia, believing it could save
money with public operation.162
In Conflict with the Human Right to
Water
The experiences of communities across the planet show
that Veolia does not offer a solution to the world’s water
problems. Indeed, underlying its corporate strategy is a
tacit recognition that water privatization in general does
not work for the poor and conflicts with the human right
to water. The company seems to want to hide this fact and
often presents a different public face from the one it shows
investors.
In a March 2010 letter, Veolia Water told the U.N. Human
Rights Council’s independent expert on the issue of human
rights and water that the core of its job as a water opera-
tor was to “bring water to those who need it most.”163 In
reality, however, the company has avoided places with the
greatest water needs. In 2010, Veolia Water did not have
offices in countries with the least access to safe drinking
water (see map on inside cover).164 This is partly because
public resistance to privatization and opposition to high
water bills made it unprofitable for the company to run
water systems in many places in the Global South.165
In its letter to the Human Rights Council’s independent ex-
pert, the company boasted about how it has expanded wa-
ter access, “particularly to those living in remote areas.”166
Nevertheless, that same month, it told credit analysts on
Wall Street that it prioritized “financially sound clients”
in dense urban areas.167 The rural poor thus were of little
concern to Veolia, despite its pretenses.
For these communities, Veolia’s absence is beneficial. The
rate hikes needed to generate corporate profit could price
struggling households out of safe water service. When
low-income neighborhoods cannot afford to pay their bills,
private companies often focus improvements in wealthier
areas where they can recoup their investments and grow
stockholder value.168
Veolia does operate in certain low- and middle-income
countries, but Frérot told Dow Jones Newswires, “we won’t
give them the priority in terms of investments.”169 Veolia’s
customers in Libreville, Gabon, know all too well the hu-
man consequences of underinvesting in water resources.
Africa: “Not a priority”
Half of Veolia’s major water operations in Africa were
linked to loans from international financial institutions,
according to World Bank data. In 2010, Veolia ran wa-
ter systems in five African countries: Gabon, Morocco,
Namibia, Niger and South Africa. A loan from the Euro-
pean Investment Bank backed the privatization in Namibia
and one from the World Bank’s financial arm backed the
deal in Niger. Since the mid-1990s, Chad, Comoros and
Gambia have terminated deals with the company. All three
contracts were associated with World Bank loans.170
9
 Veolia Environnement: A Profile of the
World’s Largest Water Service Corporation

The company is not prioritizing new privatizations in the

region, but it is not leaving the places where it already
operates. In 2010, when an investor asked about the com-
pany’s plans for Africa, Frérot responded: “…Africa is not
a priority for the Group, but we do not intend to withdraw
from Africa though; we want to work with partnerships and
not just with our own money.”171

Even when the company takes over water services, it avoids

investing in the system unless it can hike water prices to
earn a sizable return. Insufficient investment can impair
water quality and leave some households without service.
It can be deadly.

Running Dry in Gabon

In 2011, after an independent audit documented serious
failures with the concessionaire, the government of Gabon
ordered Veolia-run Societé d’Energie et d’Eau du Gabon
(SEEG) to improve its water and electricity systems to stop
the blackouts and water shortages plaguing Libreville.172
The audit found that the company had failed to properly
maintain the systems and had difficulty providing the
required level of service.173 Some districts of the capital city
had no water service at all and others faced daily outages
that lasted as long as eight hours.174

In 1997, Veolia obtained a 20-year concession to provide

water, wastewater and electricity services to 1 million peo-
ple in Gabon.175 In 2011, it planned to sell half of its 51 per-
cent stake in SEEG to Électricité de France, the French-state
electric company headed by former Veolia CEO Proglio.176

Not long after the 1997 privatization, problems began to

surface. “The water distribution system faces shortages
going back to 2003 as a result of obsolescence and satura-
tion of the transport system for treated water,” Seraphin
Moundounga, a government spokesman told Reuters.177
At the end of 2009, after years of prolonged and repeated
service interruptions in Libreville, the government decided
to revise its contract with SEEG.178
In January 2011, a family of five died in Libreville when a
candle — necessary because of power outages — set their
house alight. “We all tried to extinguish the fire and save
Kicked Out Across South America
Organized public resistance wrecked Veolia’s water priva-
tization vision for South America. Public opposition to
price increases and inadequate service forced the com-
pany out of deals in Argentina and Brazil,180 and threat-
ened to do the same in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and Tibitoc,
Colombia.181 As of 2010, according to World Bank data,
the company had only three “operational” privatization
contracts on the continent; all were in Colombia and two
involved fixed government payments to the company.182
the lives of victims, but things were not easy, especially as
water taps were dry in the district,” neighbors reported to
the newspaper Afrik.179
A Growing Movement for Public Water
A close examination of the world’s largest water corpo-
ration reveals basic problems with water privatization.
Consumers worldwide have seen their bills skyrocket and
their service worsen after Veolia took over their water and
sewer systems. In the face of strong public opposition, the
company’s privatization prospects are diminishing. It is
struggling just to hold ground.
A growing movement is afoot to reclaim water services
for the public. Many communities across France and the
United States have ended deals with Veolia and resumed
public operation to save money and improve service. Else-
where, the fight for public water continues. From Germany
to Morocco, communities are seeking to remove Veolia
and restore public control of their water resources.

10
 Food & Water Europe

Endnotes September 25, 2009.

21 Patel, Tara. “Veolia chief Proglio to head EDF, replacing Gadonneix
(update 2).” Bloomberg. September 28, 2009; Veolia Environnement.
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11
 Veolia Environnement: A Profile of the
World’s Largest Water Service Corporation
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70 Baudry, M. Stephan. La Lettre du Cadre Territorial. “Arret Olivet:
une arme de negociation massive?” (No. 397). March 15, 2010; Le
Conseil d’État et la Jurisdiction Administrative. [Press release]. “Durée
maximum des delegations de service public.” April 8, 2009; Le
Conseil d’État et la Jurisdiction Administrative. Compagnie Generale
des Eaux et Commune d’Olivet. (No. 271737, 271782). Assemblée
du contentieux. April 3, 2009; Groupe d’Action Municipale d’Olivet.
“Spécial EAU! Olivet” Le Courrier de GAMO. No. 55. May 2009.
71 Research Institute for Social Development, United Nations. “Social
Policy, Regulation and Private Sector Water Supply: the case of
France.” September 12, 2006; Laime, Marc. “Delegations de service
public: des centaines de contrats remis en cause avant terme?” Eaux
 Food & Water Europe
Glaces. April 10, 2009.
72 Groupe d’Action Municipale d’Olivet. “Pourquoi la gestion de l’eau
sur Olivet refait surface et fait a nouvou couler beaucoup d’encre…?”
Le Courrier de GAMO. No. 48. September 2004.
73 Le Conseil d’État et la Jurisdiction Administrative. Compagnie
Generale des Eaux et Commune d’Olivet. (No. 271737, 271782).
Assemblée du contentieux. April 3, 2009.
74 Baudry, M. Stephan. La Lettre du Cadre Territorial. “Arret Olivet:
une arme de negociation massive?” (No. 397). March 15, 2010; Le
Conseil d’État et la Jurisdiction Administrative. [Press release]. “Durée
maximum des delegations de service public.” April 8, 2009.
75 Daniel, Marc and Isabelle Rey-Lefebvre. “Distribution d’eau : la con-
currence s’éveille, les prix baissent.” Le Monde. February 14, 2010.
76 Baudry, M. Stephan. La Lettre du Cadre Territorial. “Arret Olivet: une
arme de negociation massive?” (No. 397). March 15, 2010; City of
Toulouse [Press Release]. “Audit de l’Eau: le choix de la raison.”
January 28, 2010.
77 City of Toulouse [Press Release]. “Audit de l’Eau: le choix de la rai-
son.” January 28, 2010.
78 City of Toulouse [Press Release]. “Audit de l’Eau: le choix de la rai-
son.” January 28, 2010.
79 Eau Secours 31. [Press Release]. January 13, 2010.
80 Lamquin,Veronique and Michel de Muelenaere. “Aquiris: une
victoire pour Huytebroeck” Le Soir (Brussels). November 23, 2010;
Bauwens, Willy, College des Experts. “Station d’epuration de
Bruxelles-Nord.” (BXL-Nord-10-008-rev1). January 13, 2011 at 170
to 173; “Aucun argument d’Aquiris ne justifiait la fermeture de la
station d’épuration.” La Libre Belgique. January 13, 2011.
81 Corporate Europe Observatory. “Aquiris: Veolia’s lost bet in Brussels.”
February 22, 2010.
82 Lamquin,Veronique and Michel de Muelenaere. “Aquiris: une vic-
toire pour Huytebroeck” Le Soir (Brussels). November 23, 2010.
83 “Water utility referendum a ‘cold shower’ for Berlin.” The Local.
February 14, 2011.
84 Laime, Marc. “Le contrat secret de la privatisation de l’eau à Berlin
rendu public.” Mondediplo. November 4, 2010; Heiser, Sebastian.
“Die räuberische Wasser-Privatisierung.” Die Tageszeitung. October
30, 2010.
85 Veolia Water. [Brochure]. “Water References.” 2008 at 10.
86 Gateau, Nicolas. “Berlin: le scandale de l’eau.” Le Petit Journal.
November 15, 2010.
87 Gateau, Nicolas. “Berlin: le scandale de l’eau.” Le Petit Journal.
November 15, 2010; Socialist Equality Party. [Press release].
“Referendum on privatization of Berlin’s water supply.” February
14, 2011; “Water utility referendum a ‘cold shower’ for Berlin.” The
Local. February 14, 2011; Ball, Ralf Schön. “Senat will nicht gegen
Wasser-Volksentscheid klagen.” Der Tagesspiegel. February 15, 2011.
88 “Water utility referendum a ‘cold shower’ for Berlin.” The Local.
February 14, 2011.
89 “Berlin to start talks with RWE on BWB acquisition.” German
Business Digest. December 30, 2010; “New hurdle for RWE in
Berlin.” Global Water Intelligence, vol. 12, iss. 3. March 2011 at 27.
90 “French Veolia is not planning to sell stake in Berlin water utilities
–report.” German Business Digest. December 28, 2010; Cunnac,
Michel. “Vorläufig ruhen die Gespräche mit dem Senat.” Der
Tagesspiegel. December 28, 2010; “Veolia will Wasserbetriebe nicht
hergeben.” Der Tagesspiegel. December 27, 2010.
91 Godoy, Julio. “Europe: Privatised Services back in public hands.”
Inter Press Service News Agency. January 28, 2010.
92 Calculation on file with Food & Water Watch. World Bank and
PPIAF. PPI Project Database. (http://ppi.worldbank.org). Last update:
December 2010. Accessed February 10, 2011.
93 Veolia Environnement. “Q4 and full year 2010 Veolia Environnement
SA earnings conference call-final.” FD (Fair Disclosure) Wire. March
4, 2011 at 8.
94 Veolia Environnement. Presentation. “2010 Annual Results.” March 4,
2011 at 47.
95 Veolia Environnement. “Q4 and full year 2010 Veolia Environnement
SA earnings conference call-final.” FD (Fair Disclosure) Wire. March
4, 2011 at 18.
96 Veolia Environnement. Presentation. “2010 Annual Results.” March 4,
2011 at 45.
97 European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. [Press release].
“EBRD boosts stake in Veolia Environnement water venture.”
December 15, 2009.
98 International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group. [Press
release]. “IFC to invest in Veolia Voda for rehabilitation of water &
wastewater networks in Eastern Europe.” June 3, 2010.
99 Veolia Environnement. [Press release]. “Veolia Water acquires several
United Utiities activities in Europe.” June 14, 2010; “Veolia Water
buys several European activities of United Utilities for EUR 199m.”
French Business Digest. June 15, 2010.
100 Hall, David and Emanuele Lobina. Public Services International
Research Unit. “Water Companies in Europe 2010.” September 2010
at 5; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Environment Directorate, Environment Policy Committtee, “Private
Sector Participation in Water Supply and Sanitation in Eastern
Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia: Status Paper.” Annual Meeting
of the Task for the Implementation of the Environmental Action
Programme. Almaty, Kazakhstan. October 14 to 15, 2010 at 26, 53,
77 and 78.
101 Gegea, Mihaela. “Apa Nova in cross-hair of authorities.” Nine
O’Clock (Bucharest). December 16, 2003; Benezic, Dollores. “Apa
Nova intra pe mana Autoritatii Nationale de Control.” Curierul
Naţional. November 17, 2003; Mediafax. “Apa Nova Bucuresti, in
vizorul Administratiei si Internelor.” Curierul Naţional. January 27,
2004; Veolia Water. “Partner to major cities.” October 3, 2008 at 19.
102 Mediafax. “Videanu: ‘The contract with Apa Nova is harmful for the
city but I observe it.’” Nine O’Clock (Bucharest). April 1, 2007.
103 Affaire Butan et Dragomir c Roumanie. Final Decision. European
Court of Human Rights, Third division. (Application no. 40067/06).
May 14, 2008; European Commission of Human Rights. [Press
release]. “Butan and Dragomir v. Romania (no. 40067/06).” February
14, 2008; Cicovschi, Aphrodite. “România, condamnată la CEDO
din Cauza ApaNova.” Curierul Naţional. February 20, 2008.
104 “Onţanu îi cere lui Oprescu să rezilieze contractul cu Apa Nova
Onţanu îi cere lui Oprescu să rezilieze contractul cu Apa Nova.”
Mediafax (Bucharest). March 9, 2009; Dimache, Roxana. “Oprescu
vrea renegocierea contractului cu Apa Nova.” Curierul Naţional.
June 5, 2009.
105 Capatos, Monica Andrei. “Datorii stinse şi investiţii promise.”
Jurnalul National (Bucharest). December 15, 2009; “Apa Nova
renunţă la banii datoraţi de RADET.” Mediafax (Bucharest).
November 3, 2009; Dimache, Roxana. “Oprescu vrea renego-
cierea contractului cu Apa Nova.” Curierul Naţional. June 5, 2009;
“Primăria capitalei va renegocia contractual cu Apa Nova.” Curierul
Naţional. November 3, 2009.
106 “Anger in Sofia over water price hike.” Sofia News Agency. February
1, 2011; “Sofia water utility to cut supplies to debtors.” Sofia News
Agency. January 17, 2011; “Sofia water utility strikes against debt-
ors.” Sofia News Agency. February 13, 2011; Sofiyska Voda. “Annual
Report and Financial Statements 2009.” September 17, 2010 at 2.
107 Amiel, Geraldine. “Interview: Veolia CEO looks to Europe for growth
potential.” Dow Jones Newswires. March 5, 2010.
108 Wee, Sui-Lee. “China to spend $301 billion on water projects.”
Reuters. January 20, 2011.
109 Calculation on file with Food & Water Watch. World Bank and
PPIAF. PPI Project Database. (http://ppi.worldbank.org). Last update:
December 2010. Accessed February 10, 2011.
110 Gasson, Christopher. “Frérot sees salvation in operations.” Global
Water Intelligence, vol. 11, iss. 7. July 2010 at 8.
111 Veolia Water. “Veolia Water linking cities to finance.” Presentation.
September 27, 2010 at 12 to15; Gadis, David. “Testimony” In
the matter of the petition of the Department of Waterworks of the
consolidated city of Indianapolis, Indiana, for authority to increase its
rates and charges for water utility service…” State of Indiana, Indiana
Utility Regulatory Commission. September 30, 2009 at Gadis-5.
112 Veolia Environnement. Presentation. “2010 Annual Results.” March 4,
2011 at 45.
113 Gasson, Christopher. “Frérot sees salvation in operations.” Global
Water Intelligence, vol. 11, iss. 7. July 2010 at 8.
114 Veolia Environnement. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
2009 Form 20-F. April 19, 2010 at 14; Veolia Environnement. “Credit
analysts.” Presentation. New York. March 30, 2010 at 75; Gasson,
Christopher. “Frérot sees salvation in operations.” Global Water
Intelligence, vol. 11, iss. 7. July 2010 at 8; Veolia Environnement.
“Full year 2009 Veolia Environnement SA earnings conference call –
final.” FD (Fair Disclosure) Wire. March 5, 2010 at at 11.
115 Veolia Environnement. Presentation. “2010 Annual Results.” March
4, 2011at 43 to 47; Veolia Environnement. “Q4 and full year 2010
Veolia Environnement SA earnings conference call-final.” FD (Fair
Disclosure) Wire. March 4, 2011 at 7 to 8.
116 Veolia Environnement. [Press release]. “Strategic long-term partner-
ship.” April 16, 2010.
13
 Veolia Environnement: A Profile of the
World’s Largest Water Service Corporation
117 Gasson, Christopher. “Frérot sees salvation in operations.”
Global Water Intelligence, vol. 11, iss. 7. July 2010 at 8; Veolia
Environnement. “Half year 2010 Veolia Environnement SA earn-
ings conference call – final.” FD (Fair Disclosure) Wire. August 6,
2010 at 15; “Veolia Water’s Saudi Arabian odyssey.” Global Water
Intelligence, vol. 10, iss. 9. September 2009 at 16.
118 Veolia Water. [Press release]. “Veolia Water is awarded two new
contracts in the Sultanate of Oman.” January 12, 2011.
119 “Moroccans riot ahead of protests.” Al Jazeera. February 19, 2011;
Karam, Souhail. “Riots in Moroccan city over utility costs.” Reuters.
February 19, 2011; Ghanmi, Lamine. “Veolia Morocco unit buys
partners’ 49 pct stake.” Reuters. November 26, 2007.
120 “Morocco/Project: Vivendi group wins Tangiers concession.” Financial
Times Energy Newsletters- Global Private Power. March 12, 2001;
Ghanmi, Lamine. “Veolia Morocco unit buys partners’ 49 pct stake.”
Reuters. November 26, 2007; “Morocco: Joint venture contract
award for planned $700,000,000 water and electricity distribution
operations.” Worldwide Projects-Report on Engineering Construct &
Plant Operations in the Developing World. April 1, 2001.
121 Attac Morocco et al., Délégation de service public et Démocratie.
[Press Release]. “Déclaration de presse sur la gestion déléguée des
services de l’eau, électricité, assainissement et transport public – cas
de Rabat.” January 19, 2011.
122 “Vivendi takes over Rabat.” Global Water Intelligence, vol. 3, iss. 11.
November 2002; “Debtors impact Veolia Maroc’s cashflow.” Global
Water Intelligence, vol. 11, iss. 2. February 2010 at 8.
123 “Debtors impact Veolia Maroc’s cashflow.” Global Water Intelligence,
vol. 11, iss. 2. February 2010 at 8.
124 Attac Maroc et al., Foundation France Libertés. “Remarques
sur l’expérience de la gestion déléguée à REDAL et STAREO.”
Correspondence to Oualalou, Fatallah. January 14, 2011; “Veolia,
entre attaque et contre-attaque.” Les Echos Quotidien. January
26, 2011; Attac Morocco et al., Délégation de service public et
Démocratie. [Press Release]. “Déclaration de presse sur la gestion
déléguée des services de l’eau, électricité, assainissement et transport
public – cas de Rabat.” January 19, 2011.
125 Lion, Patrick. “Tugun desalination plant to be mothballed, execs face
axe in bid to cut water bills.” The Sunday Mail. December 5, 2010;
OConnor, Mike. “Gold Coast desalination plant a billion-dollar rusty
white elephant.” The Courier-Mail. June 28, 2010.
126 “Aussie plants go into hibernation.” Global Water Intelligence. Vol.
11, iss. 12. December 2010.
127 Lappeman, Sue. “$32,000 a day for Tugun desal water we don’t
need.” Gold Coast News. March 9, 2010.
128 Johnstone, Craig. “Cheaper water denied to users as Tugun desalina-
tion plant supply is prioritized.” Courier Mail. May 3, 2010.
129 Veolia Water. [Press release]. “Veolia Water selected for two major
projects to address drought in Australia.” December 5, 2006.
130 Bita, Natasha. “Water’s quick fix a long-term drain.” The Australian.
January 23, 2010; Moore, Tony. “Desal inquiry ‘still ongoing.’”
Brisbane Times. June 23, 2010.
131 Stolz, Greg. “Tanks still rusting at Tugun desalination plant.” Courier
Mail. April 27, 2010.
132 “United Water loses Adelaide water deal.” ABC News. February
10, 2011; “Suez Environnement makes waves down under.” Global
Water Intelligence, vol. 12., iss. 2. February 2011 at 37.
133 “SA Water wins $14m from United.” ABC News. February 21, 2011;
“Experts order a $13.8m water payback.” Adelaide Now. February
21, 2011.
134 Emmerson, Russell. “Jobs in peril after French firm United Water loses
SA Water contract.”Adelaide Now (Adelaide, Australia). June 25,
2010.
135 Owen, Michael and Gavin Lower. “State Sues Water Firm for
Millions.” The Australian. September 1, 2009.
136 “United Water loses Adelaide water deal.” ABC News. February
10, 2011; “Suez Environnement makes waves down under.” Global
Water Intelligence, vol. 12., iss. 2. February 2011 at 37.
137 “EPA investigates sewage spill.” ABC News. February 16, 2004.
138 “United Water plays down second sewage spill.” ABC News.
November 1, 2004.
139 “Second sewage spill angers Minister.” ABC News. November 1,
2004.
140 Veolia Environnement. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
2009 Form 20-F. April 19, 2010 at F-132; “PWF’s 14th annual water
outsourcing report.” Public Works Financing, vol. 247. March 2010
at 2 and 5; Veolia Water. “Proposal: Professional Services for the
Transition of the Ft. Monroe Facility Fort Monroe Authority.” Volume
14
1- Business & Qualitfications Proposal. October 22, 2010 at 1-1.
141 “PWF’s 12th annual water outsourcing report.” Public Works
Financing. vol. 225. March 2008 at 1; Chertoff, Larry. “Contract ops
reaching maturing.” Global Water Intelligence, vol. 7, iss. 3. March
2006; “Veolia plots a new US strategy.” Global Water Intelligence,
vol. 5, iss. 7. July 2004 at 13; “Patience wins the day at Veolia.”
Global Water Intelligence, vol. 6, iss. 5. May 2005 at 10 to 12; “US
private firms shrink from weak deals.” Global Water Intelligence, vol.
4 iss. 8. August 2003 at 8.
142 “PWF’s 14th annual water outsourcing report.” Public Works
Financing, vol. 247. March 2010 at 5; “PWF’s 13th annual water
outsourcing report.” Public Works Financing, vol. 236. March 2009 at
3.
143 “PWF’s 14th annual water outsourcing report.” Public Works
Financing, vol. 247. March 2010 at 6 and 7.
144 “PWF’s 14th annual water outsourcing report.” Public Works
Financing, vol. 247. March 2010 at 7; “PWF’s 11th annual water
outsourcing report.” Public Works Financing, vol. 214. March 2007 at
5.
145 Village of Coxsackie v. Veolia Water North America-North East LLC
and US Filter Operating Services Inc. (1:07-CW-131). United States
District Court Northern District of New York. September 6, 2007 at 1
to 2.
146 Isaac, Jimmy. “Regulators fine Overton for violations.” News-Journal.
January 31, 2010.
147 Amiel, Geraldine. “Keeping our cities livable.” The Wall Street
Journal. January 31, 2011.
148 “PWF’s 13th annual water outsourcing report.” Public Works
Financing, vol. 236. March 2009 at 4.
149 Fix our Sanitary District – Yes on F. Recipient Committee Campaign
Statement. (California Form 260). Marin County Elections. August 3,
2010 at 4; Marin County Registrar of Voters. Direct Primary Election
June 8, 2010 Official Final Statement of Votes Cast. June 28, 2010;
Jason, Will. “In Novato, new $25.6M sanitary contract takes effect.”
Contra Costa Times. August 6, 2010.
150 USFilter. [Press release]. “City of Indianapolis selects USFilter to man-
age waterworks system.” March 18, 2002.
151 Olson, Scott. “Employee benefit assessments paint different pictures.”
Indianapolis Business Journal. August 4, 2003; Tully, Matthew. “Water
workers sue over benefits cuts.” Indianapolis Star. August 30, 2002.
152 Veolia Environnement. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
2009 Form 20-F. April 19, 2010 at 172; Jason Bond, et al. v. Veolia
Water North America Operating Service, LLC, et al. Marion County
Superior Court. (49D07-0804-CC-018081). January 23, 2009 at 7 to
11; The City of Indianapolis and the Department of Waterworks of
the City of Indianapolis. “Sellers Disclosure Schedules.” August 11,
2010 at 45; Murray, Jon. “State begins informal probe of complaints
by water users.” Indianapolis Star. April 27, 2008.
153 O’Shaugnessy, Brendan. “Water company awash in controversy.”
Indianapolis Star. October 7, 2005.
154 O’Shaugnessy, Brendan. “Water company awash in controversy.”
Indianapolis Star. October 7, 2005; O’Malley, Chris. “Veolia conces-
sions worry regulators.” The Indianapolis Business Journal. May 8,
2010.
155 O’Malley, Chris. “Veolia concessions worry regulators.” The
Indianapolis Business Journal. May 8, 2010.
156 Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor. “OCC’s Proposed
Order.” Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission. (Cause No. 43645).
June 22, 2010 at 22.
157 Murray, Jon. “Indianapolis water bills will be going up 26 percent.”
Indianapolis Star. February 2, 2011.
158 Cotterill, Chris W. City of Indianapolis. “Memorandum: Agreement to
transfer the water and wastewater systems to Citizens Energy Group.”
June 25, 2010 at 1 and 4; City of Indianapolis. [Press release].
“Council votes to support utility transfer.” July 26, 2010.
159 Murray, Jon. “Citizens Energy to replace Veolia.” Indianapolis Star.
October 29, 2010.
160 City Council of Petaluma. “Regular city council/PCDC meeting.”
November 19, 2007 at 4; City Council of Petaluma. Water Resources
& Conservation. “Agenda Title: Presentation, Discussion and Possible
Action Regarding Plan for Operation and Maintenance of the Ellis
Creek Water Recycling Facility.” November 19, 2007 at 1, 15 and 23.
161 Welch, Laurie. “Burley questions Veolia work on plant.” Times-News
(ID). December 3, 2009.
162 Speer, John. “Tama council ‘firm’: no severance pay.” The Tama
News-Herald. February 25, 2011.
163 Veolia Water. “Right to water – from concept to reality.” Human
 Food & Water Europe
Rights Council, Independent Expert on the issue of human rights obli-
gations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation. March
2010 at 1.
164 Access to improved drinking water services based on latest survey
data available from 1995 to 2008. United Nations, United Nations
Statistics Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs. “7.8
Proportion of population using an improved drinking water source.”
Millennium Development Goals Indicators. June 23, 2010; Veolia
Water. “Business overview 2009.” May 14, 2010 at 14 to 15.
165 “The flood dries up.” The Economist. August 28, 2004; Denny,
Charlotte. “H20: Comment: Private droughts: The poor are not profit-
able and foreign forms are pulling the plug.” The Guardian. August
23, 2003.
166 Veolia Water. “Right to water – from concept to reality.” Human
Rights Council, Independent Expert on the issue of human rights obli-
gations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation. March
2010 at 2.
167 Veolia Environnement. “Credit analysts.” Presentation. New York.
March 30, 2010 at 75.
168 For example, see Lobina, Emanuele and David Hall. Public Services
International Research Unit. “Problems with private water conces-
sions: a review of experience.” June 2003 at 29 to 31.
169 Amiel, Geraldine. “Interview: Veolia CEO looks to Europe for growth
potential.” Dow Jones Newswires. March 5, 2010.
170 Calculation on file with Food & Water Watch. World Bank and
PPIAF. PPI Project Database. (http://ppi.worldbank.org). Last update:
December 2010. Accessed February 10, 2011.
171 Veolia Environnement. “Full year 2009 Veolia Environnement SA
earnings conference call – final.” FD (Fair Disclosure) Wire. March
5, 2010 at 16.
172 “Le Gabon exige de Véolia un plan de renouvellement des équipe-
ments d’eau et d’électricité.” Xinhua. February 17, 2011.
173 Kombila, Yorick. “Le Conseil des Ministre se saisit de l’audit de la
SEEG et apporte des additifs.” Gabonews. February 16, 2011.
174 Kwatsi, Linel. “Gabon warns Veolia unit on water contract.” Reuters.
December 30, 2009.
175 Global Water Operators’ Partnership Alliance. “Societe d’Energie et
d’Eau du Gabon.” January 27, 2011; Veolia Water. “Our know-how
in Sub-Suharan Africa.” December 17, 2007.
176 Whitehouse, David. “EDF Gabon Stake Purchase Shows Veolia
Cooperation Increasing, Tribune Says.” Bloomberg. January 17, 2011.
177 Kwatsi, Linel. “Gabon warns Veolia unit on water contract.” Reuters.
December 30, 2009.
178 “Gabon : La SEEG sur la balance du gouvernement?” Gaboneco.
January 3, 2011.
179 Batassi, Pierre Eric Mbog. “Libreville : une famille de 5 personnes
périe dans un incendie.” Afrik.com. January 18, 2011.
180 “Catamarca rescinds Aguas del Valle contract.” Business News
Americas. December 23, 2004; Izaguirre, Ada Karina and Alexander
Nicholas Jett. The World Bank Group. “Investment commitments
remain stable in Latin America while the number of new proj-
ects declines.” (PPI data update note 31). December 2009 at 5;
Tagliabue, John. “As multinationals run the taps, anger rises over
water for profit.” The New York Times. August 26, 2002; “Courts
rule in Sanepar control case.” Global Water Intelligence, vol. 8 iss.
11. November 2007; Veolia Environnement U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission. 2008 Form 20-F. April 16, 2009 at F-41 to
F-42; “Brazil: Pulling the plug.” EIU Business Latin America. The
Economist. February 24, 2003; Lobina, Emanuele and David Hall.
Public Services International Research Unit. “Problems with private
water concessions: a review of experience.” June 2003 at 14; Lobina,
Emanuele and David Hall. Public Services International Research
Unit. “Water privatisation and restructuring in Latin America, 2007.”
September 2007 at 4, 5, 8, 9, 22 to 25, 29 to 31.
181 Izaguirre, Ada Karina and Alexander Nicholas Jett. The World
Bank Group. “Investment commitments in Latin America and the
Caribbean increased in 2007.” (PPI data update note 16). December
2008 at 4. “Veolia and FCC find trouble in Tibitoc.” Global Water
Intelligence, vol. 9, iss. 2. February 2008; Izaguirre, Ada Karina and
Edouard Perard. The World Bank Group. “Private activity in water
and sewerage declines for second consecutive year.” (PPI data update
note 37). June 2010 at 3 to 4; Hall, David and Emanuele Lobina.
Public Services International Research Unit. “Water Companies in
Europe 2010.” September 2010 at 17; Ortiz, Gonzalo. “Ecuador:
Native groups in showdown over water bill.” Inter Press Service.
April 29, 2010.
182 Calculation on file with Food & Water Watch. World Bank and
PPIAF. PPI Project Database. (http://ppi.worldbank.org). Last update:
December 2010. Accessed February 10, 2011.
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Food & Water Europe
europe@fwwatch.org
www.foodandwatereurope.org eu ope