Veolia, formerly known as Vivendi Universal, is notorious for having a history heavily involved in corporate corruption, however, there is no indication of any wrong doing in the St. Louis area. The St. Louis County Council chose Veolia as the designated trash hauler in three of the eight trash districts.
Public Citizen, the non profit consumer organisation founded by Ralph Nader, reports:
Bribery convictions, raids on corporate offices by evidence-seeking securities investigators, class action suits filed by shareholders on both sides of the Atlantic, collapses in both its stock price and its credit rating, massive debt necessitating a fire-sale of assets, a discredited and ultimately ousted corporate chieftain, dizzying financial uncertainty, an identity crisis - little wonder that Veolia has scrambled to distance from its erstwhile corporate parent.
An internet research on Veolia shows that the company still regularly draws the negative attention of the media.
Despite Veolia's global track record of corruption, broken promises, environmental degradation, price-gouging, obfuscation, misdirection and secrecy, the world's largest water company continues to enjoy substantial support within powerful pockets of financial and political circles.
In some instances, the private water industry has garnered that support the old-fashioned way - by bribing officials. While publicly operated water systems are managed to deliver clean, safe and affordable water to you and your family, privately operated systems (like Veolia Water) are managed to get as much money as possible from you and your family. Veolia is not the solution. But as the company has demonstrated time and again, in every corner of the globe, Veolia is part of the problem.
More information available at the following web sites:
http://publiccitizen.org/documents/Vivendi-USFilter.pdf
http://www.acme-eau.org/Nouveau-Rapport-de-PUBLIC-CITIZEN-sur-VEOLIA-en-Anglais-_a214.html#Corruption
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article5723.shtml
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
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ReplyDeleteTrash hauler withdraws bid in St. Louis County
By Paul Hampel
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
06/18/2008
Clayton — Aspen Waste Systems has withdrawn its bid to haul trash in Districts 6 and 8 in unincorporated St. Louis County, citing a recent lawsuit filed against the county by several trash haulers.
American Eagle Waste Industries, Meridian Waste Services and Waste Management of Missouri filed the suit May 29 in an effort to derail the county's plan to divide its unincorporated areas into eight trash collection districts. The suit alleges that the county violated state law by failing to give the companies two years' notice before starting the program.
In a letter to the county dated Friday, Aspen general manager Chris St. Peters said a victory by the plaintiffs would hurt any investment his company made in new equipment.
Aspen's bid was $11.31 a month in the first year, rising to $12.11 in the third year. For that price, Aspen would have provided a basic service of once-a-week trash and recyclables pickups and twice-a-year bulky waste collections.
County officials said they will ask the County Council to award contracts to the next lowest bidders, Allied Waste Co. in District 6 and IESI in District 8. The districts include Lemay, Mehlville and Oakville.
Allied's bid is $13.50 a month in the first year, rising to $14.60 in the third year. IESI's bid is $13.09 a month in the first year, rising to $14.23 in the third.
St. Louis County Executive Charlie A. Dooley said he was disappointed that Aspen had withdrawn its bid.
"I was happy that a smaller hauler got a chance to be a player in this competitive process," Dooley said. "And I'm upset that this lawsuit — which is sour grapes by the firms who lost in the bidding process — scared Aspen off."