Aqua America Chief Environmental Officer Appointed to State Lead Task Force while the Company Continues to Expand and Serve More Customers in 2017

Jan 24, 2018

Aqua America’s Chief Environmental Officer Chris Crockett has been appointed to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Lead Task Force Advisory Committee, established by the Joint State Government Commission, the primary non-partisan research and policy development agency for Pennsylvania’s General Assembly. Meanwhile, Aqua America has welcomed more than 7,100 new customers through organic growth and approximately 1,000 more through four completed acquisitions through the end of Q3 2017.

The advisory committee is charged with conducting a comprehensive review and analysis of laws, regulations, policies and procedures of the commonwealth and other states regarding an assessment of lead exposure as a public health concern.

The committee will report to the state senate its findings and recommendations on Pennsylvania policies and regulations relating to lead testing, abatement and remediation by November 2018.

“I look forward to helping Pennsylvania address the challenges of lead in drinking water and finding solutions to protect our citizens,” said Crockett. Crockett joined Aqua America as its chief environmental officer in June 2016. He is responsible for overseeing water quality and environmental compliance for all of Aqua's drinking water and wastewater systems in Pennsylvania and seven other states. Among his responsibilities is oversight of the company’s multi-state-certified laboratory.

“Chris is a great pick for this committee because he’s a subject-matter expert and a staunch advocate for public health and safety,” Rick Fox, chief operating officer, said.

Aqua America continues to expand

As small to mid-sized municipalities across the country look to focus on other core services or struggle to comply with ever increasing environmental compliance regulations, many municipalities are considering exiting the water and wastewater business. Aqua stands ready to assist the communities and customers brought into the Aqua family in 2017, and looks forward to future communities it will have the privilege to serve in the coming year as well.

Aqua has six pending acquisitions under agreement with municipalities. The sixth of these is a newly announced municipality in Pennsylvania with 1,400 customers that came under agreement in December. Two acquisitions are under agreement and approved by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, but the closings are delayed due to ongoing challenges. Previous guidance had reflected customer growth expectations of 1.5 to 2 percent for 2017. Due to delays in the expected closing dates of these two previously announced municipal acquisitions now anticipated for 2018, customer growth totals for 2017 are expected to be approximately 1 percent.

“As we move into 2018, we remain highly confident in our ability to deliver long-term value for our stakeholders while operating a sustainable and growing business focused on world-class service,” President and CEO Chris Franklin said.

Aqua plans to announce 2018 guidance at an investor and analyst update on Jan. 17, 2018 at the New York Stock Exchange. A live webcast of the event will be available on the Investor Relations section of AquaAmerica.com. The webcast will be archived in the Investor Relations section of the company’s website for 90 days following the event.

Aqua America is one of the largest U.S.-based, publicly traded water utilities and serves nearly 3 million people in Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, Illinois, Texas, New Jersey, Indiana and Virginia. Aqua America is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol WTR. For more information follow Aqua on Facebook and on Twitter.

 

Contact

Aqua America

Donna Alston

United States

Phone:

+1 610-645-1095

E-Mail:

DPAlston@AquaAmerica.com

Internet:

To website

© 2024 visaplan GmbH, a subsidiary of Prof. Dr. Ing. Stein & Partner GmbH

UNITRACC 3.10.15.1