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Mele’s Musings: It’s OK to take manscaping to the next level

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<p>PITTSBURGH (AP) &#8212; City Council wants the state to investigate the local water authority&#8217;s operations, including a former contract with a private corporation, in the wake of overbilling and water quality problems that included a boil-water advisory that affected 100,000 customers.</p><p>Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said Friday he would do an audit but the Pittsburgh Water &amp; Sewer Authority must request it, not City Council. The attorney general&#8217;s office doesn&#8217;t comment on investigations.</p><p>The city leases its water and sewer system to the quasi-governmental authority. The authority&#8217;s seven-member board is appointed by the mayor and approved by City Council.</p><p>The city issued the boil-water advisory Tuesday as a precautionary measure at the direction of state environmental regulators after tests showed water drawn from city reservoirs didn&#8217;t have enough chlorine to meet state standards.</p><p>The advisory was lifted Thursday.</p><p>Mayor Bill Peduto said there was never any sign of harmful bacteria that can occur with the drop in chlorine levels. He said the advisory actually amounted to a &#8220;technical&#8221; precaution, because other tests showed the city&#8217;s water was never unsafe. Among other things, the water never fell below federal levels for sufficient chlorine, which are less-stringent than Pennsylvania&#8217;s standards, Peduto said.</p><p>The Democrat&#8217;s administration has sparred previously with the authority and Veolia Water North America-Northeast, the Boston company that had a management contract with the authority from July 2012 through the end of 2015.</p><p>The authority in October filed a lawsuit seeking $12.5 million. The authority contends Veolia is responsible for overbilling problems and a change in chemicals that caused city water to approach a federal threshold for lead in 2013.</p><p>Veolia issued a statement late Friday saying it welcomed a review of its work for the authority. The company said it had nothing to do with any of the reported water-quality issues and that it was repeatedly credited by the authority board and city for improving the agency&#8217;s efficiency.</p><p>&#8220;Unfortunately for Pittsburgh residents, the community has had difficulties with its water infrastructure for many years,&#8221; the company said. &#8220;During our time in Pittsburgh, we brought highly effective management methods to the system and remain proud of our work there.&#8221;</p><p>The state Department of Environmental Protection has been investigating and testing the city&#8217;s water system because of the previous concerns about lead. Tests it conducted last weekend found the unrelated chlorination issues, city and authority officials said.</p><p>Authority Director Bernard Lindstrom said the utility is trying to determine whether faulty tests or a treatment plant problem caused the below-standard chlorine readings. The city took its Highland Park reservoirs off line and flushed out the system to satisfy DEP concerns and lift the boil-water advisory.</p><p>Peduto, who is up for re-election this year, announced Friday that he wants to hire an outside advisory team to restructure the authority, a move he said the agency supports. Authority officials didn&#8217;t immediately comment on Peduto&#8217;s announcement, or City Council&#8217;s requests for the state audit and investigation.</p><p>&#8220;While we are not presently considering a full privatization, nor a third-party arrangement similar to the previous engagement with Veolia, we are seeking a full financial and operations partner,&#8221; Peduto said. &#8220;With disintegrating water infrastructure, massive debt problems and repeated failures in customer service and billing issues, deep changes to the PWSA are obviously necessary.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">This Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017 photo shows a Highland Park Reservoir where low chlorine levels have caused the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority to issue a precautionary boil order in the Highland Park neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Insufficient chlorine in Pittsburgh's public water supply led to the closure Wednesday of some schools and a boil-water advisory in neighborhoods that include the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. (Rebecca Droke/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_zmzmzmzmzmzmzmzmz-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>This Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017 photo shows a Highland Park Reservoir where low chlorine levels have caused the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority to issue a precautionary boil order in the Highland Park neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Insufficient chlorine in Pittsburgh's public water supply led to the closure Wednesday of some schools and a boil-water advisory in neighborhoods that include the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. (Rebecca Droke/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By JOE MANDAK</p><p>Associated Press</p></bylineMeta></div>

Pittsburgh council seeks review after boil-water advisory