CEO of SUEZ North America on Replacing Lead Service Lines

Steve Adubato is joined by Nadine Leslie, Chief Executive Officer, SUEZ North America, to discuss SUEZ's role in replacing lead service lines and the company's future goals.

1/18/2020 #123

 

 

 

 

Excerpt:

"We are pleased to be joined by Nadine Leslie, who is Chief Executive Officer of SUEZ North America. Good to see you. Good to have me here. Thank you very much Steve. It's a pleasure for me to be here. And what a great opportunity to talk about water. Water, water, everywhere. Right? And we gotta make sense of it. And SUEZ North America. Describe it for folks. What is the company? And where do you cover? Okay. So I will start by talking about the parent company. So we are SUEZ, 90,000 employees, five continents, providing support to customers and clients around the world on water and solid waste services. So what we are providing is really a solution to move from what we call a linear model... A linear model? Yes. To what? To a circular model. Explain that. Okay. So linear being, you know, in the past what did we do? We take, we make, and we waste. Right. So that was the linear model. [laughter] And today, you know, we are really promoting a responsible behavior when it comes to managing our resources So we are... we have to reduce, reuse, and recycle our resources. And protect the environment to ensure that these services are provided to our future generations. Okay. So let's do this. SUEZ is a huge company. And we know SUEZ. They've supported what we've been doing for a while now. But I also want to be clear on something. You handle the water in certain communities in New Jersey. Not all. Now, we are in Newark, New Jersey. There's been a lot of publicity around that. You do not cover Newark? Correct? That's correct. Okay. But what is the issue? And by the way, it seems to me, I was just saying this to Nadine before we're got on the air, anytime you talk about water anywhere there's a water problem, Flint comes up. Well, our job is to break down what's real, what's hyperbole, what's exaggeration, and what people need to know. The effort right now, by your company, in certain communities, I believe in Bergen County, heavily... I believe in Hackensack is it? Yes. You'll help us on this. This is replacing lead service lines. What does that mean? Okay. So if you allow me, Steve, before we go there, I would like to put in perspective who we are in New Jersey. Go ahead. So I spoke to you about the parent company. So I am the CEO of SUEZ North America. So we have 2,500 employees in North America providing water and solid waste services. Here in New Jersey, 1,000 employees working everyday to make sure that safe, reliable, affordable water is provided to our customers. Talking about the lead service lines in Hudson and Bergen County. So it's Hudson and Bergen counties?..."