“It seems like it was done in the dark, in secret, and shouldn’t have done that,” De Amorin said. The initially-proposed deal would have been worth almost $1 billion and lasted 40 years.

The systems are currently operated by another private company, New Jersey American Water. The proposed deal would affect the sewer systems for all of Edison and the water delivery for the southern part of the city. Negotiations on the Suez deal had been ongoing for years, though many residents were only made aware in February that the township was in talks about the future of the city’s water services.

“We would have gotten 15,000 if we’d extended the deadline,” said Anthony De Amorin, a member of the petition’s organizing committee. Nearly 5,000 residents signed the petition forcing the vote. The special election on September 10 is the culmination of a community effort to block a deal negotiated between the office of Edison’s Mayor Thomas Lankey and Edison Environmental Partners, a joint venture between private water company Suez and KKR, an investment company. Tomorrow, residents of Edison, New Jersey will be facing a vote to decide whether to retain community ownership and maintenance of the city’s drinking water and sewer treatment systems or transfer operations to private companies.

Suez and edison township