Minutes after Alderman Terry Kennedy introduced a board bill that would essentially block a $250,000 consulting contract for controversial Veolia Water North America this morning, Mayor Francis Slay’s assistant announced that Veolia has decided not to do business with the City of St. Louis.
Mary Ellen Ponder, the mayor’s special assistant, said Slay’s office has spoken with the Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) about taking on the role that Veolia would have played – improving the functions and efficiency of the water department.
Talks with MSD were informal, and the district’s responsibilities and costs have not been outlined, she said at the Ways and Means committee meeting held at 9 a.m. today.
Slay’s announcement comes after he angered both city aldermen and environmental activists this month by claiming that the board approved the Veolia contract when it passed the city budget in June. Several aldermen on the Ways and Means committee called this claim of Slay’s “insane” and “sneaky” at a public hearing on last Tuesday.
The contract has been criticized by aldermanic President Lewis Reed and the St. Louis Dump Veolia Coalition, among others. Opponents say Veolia Water, a French firm and the largest private water services provider in the world, operates under questionable environmental standards.
Despite Slay’s statement that Veolia does not want to do business with St. Louis, Reed and activists are still on guard. Reed said Slay may try to employ Veolia on a subcontract with MSD. He is not taking Slay’s word for it that Veolia has truly stepped away, he said.
“The Mayor’s office is just trying to go around the process,” Reed said. “I don’t think they’ve given up.”