News

With a data center potentially on the horizon and water infrastructure badly in need of a fix, one Rocky Mount city councilman reached out to Pamlico-Tar Riverkeeper Katey Zimmerman and Edgecombe Neighbors for Data Center Accountability Chair Janice Bullock to talk about water.

Katey and Ms. Bullock met with Councilman Charles Roberson last month to discuss the work ENDCA has done to put the brakes on data-center development.

“The tone of the conversation was that he was an ally,” Katey said. “But he did ask if there could be a data center we would support. And the answers to that is ‘Yes, in an ideal world.’”

Possible privatization of Rocky Mount’s water and wastewater infrastructure was another topic of discussion.

“It’s seeming like there’s not enough support to move forward in any way, but they were approached by American Water, a company that owns other systems, mostly in the Northeast,” Katey said.

The company estimated that Rocky Mount’s system need $200 million in repairs. Currently, the City, which is facing a severe budget crisis, has $70 million set aside for fixes.

“Like many local governments, they haven’t put as much money as they should have into the infrastructure because it hasn’t been priority,” Katey said. “But a private company owning public resources is not good because large corporations prioritize profits over people.”

Other concerns about privatizing water infrastructure include rate hikes, transparency issues and potential compromise of water quality and environmental standards.

“Once a municipality sells to a private company, legally, it’s almost impossible to reverse that and get the system back,” Katey said. “And privatization could open the door for bulk water exports. With the recent drought in North Carolina, a private company could have the ability to export water and sell it to other places. Those really high extraction rates could cause an ecological imbalance of the river.”

Katey said Roberson is actively encouraging Rocky Mount residents to attend city council meetings and speak up in support of fixing the City’s ailing water infrastructure and speak out against privatizing those systems.

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