American
Water Services said Tuesday it has been awarded a 50-year contract worth roughly $179
million to run and maintain the water and wastewater treatment facilities and distribution
systems at Fort Sill, OK.
The Voorhees, N.J.-based company said the contract, which transfers ownership of the
system to it, is part of the Defense Department Privatization Initiative. That is intended
to give the government safe, technologically current and environmentally sound utility
systems for less than it would spend if it continued to own, run and maintain the systems
itself.
AWS' responsibilities under the contract include system capital investment, regulatory
and environmental compliance, planning, asset recapitalization, and long-term operations
and maintenance.
AWS is part of the water division of RWE AG, a giant German utility holding company.
Fort Sill is a U.S. Army facility used for field artillery training.