Suez Told to Abandon Plans for Desalination Plant

The New York State Public Service Commission today directed Suez, Inc. to submit a three-part strategic plan to better manage Rockland County’s water supply over the next decade by using conservation, leak control, and incremental new supply measures.

The Commission also determined the plan by the utility formerly known as United Water New York, Inc. to construct a desalination plant on the Hudson River is no longer needed.

However, it denied calls to re-examine the prudence of the utility’s original decision to pursue the desalination project.

Concerns about the long-term sustainability of Rockland County’s water supply have been growing over the past two decades, the PSC officials said.

The current proceeding arose from a Commission decision in 2006 recognizing that a new water source would be needed by the end of 2015. In January 2007, the company responded with a proposal to build a new water intake pumping station and water treatment and desalinization facility in the Town of Haverstraw, capable of scaling up to 7.5 million gallons a day of potable water from the Hudson River for Rockland County customers.

Today’s decision concludes a proceeding initiated in 2013 to re-assess the need for a new long-term water supply source based on new circumstances.

“It is our obligation to ensure the company takes all appropriate action to provide a clean and reliable water supply,” said Commission Chair Audrey Zibelman. “The record demonstrates that circumstances have changed since the Commission first asked the company to develop a new long-term water supply in 2006. The development of a comprehensive water conservation plan by the utility and the community will help meet the needs of the community for the next decade.”

The news was welcomed by environmental groups Riverkeeper and Scenic Hudson.

The PSC decision was based on the clear evidence that the area has adequate water supplies and that improvements in conservation and sound water management will obviate any future need for the industrial water facility that was proposed, they said. Scenic Hudson and Riverkeeper and their allies provided much of the expert analysis.

Their concern was that the oversized, energy-intensive plant proposed by United Water would have major impacts on the environment and endangered species, public health and drinking water safety, while also burdening consumers with rising costs for water when water conservation efforts could answer the county’s need for drinking water.

​“The Public Service Commission’s ruling confirms what Rockland residents and Riverkeeper supporters have known for years: desalination is flat-out unnecessary and wasteful, given options for increased water conservation and better management of existing supplies,” said Riverkeeper President Paul Gallay. “This is a major victory for smarter use of our water resources, ​and it was fought for and won by the citizens of Rockland ​and our other partner groups. ​Riverkeeper is proud to have fought with them and appreciate the PSC’s hard work on this crucial issue.”

In its decision, the Commission directed the company to continue its long-term planning efforts and to file the details of its three-part program, including costs and conservation rate proposals in its expected February 2016 rate case filing. The February filing is to include appropriate cost recovery for the development of the now-tabled desalination plant.

“We applaud this watershed decision of the PSC which shows that they heard and looked out for the needs of Rockland County residents while also protecting the Hudson River,” Scenic Hudson Senior Vice President Steve Rosenberg said in a statement. “The future is about smart and efficient management of our region’s water resources. We now can look ahead to United Water taking the necessary actions to reduce the volume of water lost in its system and sharpen the management of the region’s water supplies. With the desalination plant proposal rejected, it’s time to focus on working together to create a sustainable plan for Rockland’s water needs.”

Rockland County Legislator Harriet D. Cornell (D-West Nyack) had sent a letter to the Secretary of the commission earlier this week, asking the agency to direct Suez New York to formally abandon the Haverstraw Water Supply Project.

“If the door is left open to the continued possibility of the Haverstraw Water Supply project, the interests of the company will always be mixed, and the opposition long demonstrated by the Rockland public will continue,” she said then. “The preliminary costs of the project are already very high; leaving it ‘on the shelf’ will run up still more costs, as the issue continues to fester.”

Suez is a private investor-owned water company that provides drinking water and water for fire protection to the residents and businesses in Rockland County, excluding the Villages of Suffern, Nyack and South Nyack. It also serves a small portion of Orange County and part of Westchester County.

Today’s decision may be obtained by going to the Commission Documents section of the Commission’s Web site at www.dps.ny.gov and entering Case Number 13-W-0303 in the input box labeled “Search for Case/Matter Number”. Many libraries offer free Internet access. Commission documents may also be obtained from the Commission’s Files Office, 14th floor, Three Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12223 (518-474-2500).