Rep. Garrett Bradley, D-Hingham, supports Hingham's potential acquisition of the town's water system from Aquarion Water Company
March 28, 2014, Taunton Daily Gazette online
Rep. Garrett Bradley, D-Hingham, supports Hingham's potential acquisition of the portion of Aquarion Water Company that serves Hingham, Hull, and part of Cohasset.
Selectman Chair Bruce Rabuffo read a prepared statement from Bradley, dated March 27, at at last night's board meeting.
It read in part: "Like many of you in attendance tonight, I have followed closely the town's careful consideration of acquiring our water system from the Aquarion Water Company. I have seen the data the Water Company Acquisition Study Committee has gathered, and it is compelling."
Bradley also said he would support updating "what is in many areas an outdated and antiquated system" if the town ultimately decides to move forward with the acquisition, pending Town Meeting approval.
"I believe that no for-profit company will ever be as responsible a steward of Hingham's natural resources -- the Weir River Watershed, the aquifers that feed our water supply, our reservoirs -- as would our own town leadership, our friends, and neighbors," Bradley said. "Precious natural resources should not be privately owned, and companies shold not seek to profit from a natural resource so vital to us all."
Bradley arranged a meeting last week with Department of Environmental Protection officials, attended by Rabuffo, Town Administrator Ted Alexiades, Bradley, and other interested parties "to update the DEP about our study and to ask for information," Rabuffo said. "We wanted to find out if there are any secret time bombs or issues we should know about regarding such an acquisition were it to occur and to be sure the DEP and our goals are in sync."
Rabuffo went on to say, "We want to get our environmental house in order. It was a successful afternoon and we have already received some information from the DEP."
On July 3, 2013 the town filed a complaint -- naming Aquarion as defendant -- requesting the court to decide the appropriate water company purchase price should the Town of Hingham decide to move forward in that direction with Town Meeting approval.
The case is being heard in the Suffolk County Superior Court Business Litigation Session, which addresses complex business issues such as this one.
For full details see the April 3 Hingham Journal.
You can follow Reporter Carol Britton Meyer on Twitter @CMeyerJournal.
