NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – When the Sewer and Water Board goes before the New Orleans City Council on Thursday, it will face questions about a nearly citywide boil water advisory due to a power outage. It will also face questions about its billing process, which the City Council plans to reform if the bill passes.

A power outage at S&WB facilities caused by a Mylar balloon hitting a power line resulted in a drop in water pressure last Tuesday, which an employee attempted to fix.

While attempting to restore water pressure, the employee was seriously injured.

A second employee called 911 and additional employees and supervisors arrived at the scene. Their assistance reportedly delayed the activation of the necessary pumps to prevent the pressure drop.

“You have a responsibility and obligation to your employee, but you also have a responsibility and obligation to provide clean water,” said Councilman Joe Giarrusso. “We’re not trying to be insensitive to the fact that an employee was seriously injured. What we’re saying is there are other public safety needs, and when one person is down, operations must continue.”

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Giarrusso said he and other council members want to know what happened after the employee was injured and why several employees stopped working and apparently left water pressure so low that it triggered the boil water warning.

A S&WB spokesman declined an interview but said executives would be available after Thursday’s meeting.

The Council also plans to resolve billing issues with S&WB and proposes a revision of the current billing dispute system.

A bill that must be passed by the Council would require that the initial steps of an accounting dispute be handled not internally but by an outside firm whose final arbitrator is appointed by the state.

Giarrusso said the change is in line with a recently passed state law that requires the appointment of special arbitrators to make final decisions in billing disputes between S&WB and customers.

“The arbitrators, who will be stationed in each community library, still have work to do because once there is a dispute about what amount the customer owes, there will be an arbitration and the person will conduct an investigation and then make a recommendation,” said Paul Rainwater, former chairman of the Governor’s Task Force on Sewerage and Water Services.

Rainwater said the goal is to have the arbitrators, who are currently being interviewed by the state Audit Office, in place by August or September.

“I think it’s going to be challenging because it’s introducing a bureaucracy that’s never existed before,” said political analyst Robert Collins of Dillard University. “When you introduce a new bureaucracy, there are always teething issues. It takes a while to get going.”

Giarrusso said the outside firm already acts as an appellate body for billing disputes, makes final decisions in cases and provides final recommendations to the council.

This step would simply move the firm to a higher level in the process and work with one final arbitrator per municipal district.

“From a local government and policy perspective, this issue really should be a no-brainer,” Collins said.

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