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MSD’s settlement in 2012 with the Environmental Protection Agency, meant to cut sewage overflows into area waterways, set in motion . As it prepared to invest billions of dollars into the region’s sewer pipes over the next two decades, MSD made a commitment to ensuring that minority-owned laborers and contractors received a piece of the work.

“As we begin an unparalleled construction program, we should strive to have an unparalleled program of inclusion for minorities, women, and disadvantaged businesses,� former MSD Director Jeff Theerman said in a January 2012 board of trustees meeting, according to minutes. “Not just in terms of contracts alone, but in terms of workforce diversity as well. In short, the old way of doing business in our region needs to change and MSD is in a position to help with that change.�

MSD ultimately set a goal of obtaining 30 percent of its construction work hours from minorities and 7 percent from women. MSD also pledged to obtain professional services from firms with workforces made up of 32 percent women and 18 percent minorities.

“When it comes to diversity and inclusion, MSD will not be able to right every wrong made in the history of St. Louis,� Theerman said in those remarks from 2012. “But MSD can help create the path forward.�

Yet the district’s voluntary efforts to help alleviate some of the region’s racial disparities are already catching criticism after it waived the diversity goals for some contractors.

“What the policy said was those contractors who were obligated to meet the new goals approved by the board, that they did not have to diversify their work crews because of ‘safety reasons,’� Adolphus Pruitt, president of the St. Louis chapter of the NAACP, told the Post-Dispatch.

In another twist, this month as one of the more prominent users of lawsuits seeking to collect past-due bills. The investigation, performed by nonprofit journalism group and , zeroed in on the race of the people most likely to be sued by MSD.

Turns out they’re mostly customers in predominantly black neighborhoods. By adjusting for income, ProPublica found the phenomenon is tied to disparities in wealth accumulation: black families are less likely than white families to be able to fall back on assets accumulated over generations.

MSD residential bills have risen each summer for the past several years (they hit an average of $41 in July) to pay for the agreement with the EPA. They could approach an average of $100 a month by the mid-2020s.

In addition, the district launched a concerted effort in mid-2010 to collect millions of dollars in unpaid bills.

Unlike the electric or gas companies, MSD can’t shut off utility service. So the lawsuits seeking unpaid sewer bills have piled up in recent years, with about 25,000 filed since mid-2012, the district reports.

“We knew the (EPA) consent decree was coming, we knew in the 2000s we needed to start taking action,� MSD spokesman Lance LeComb said of the collection efforts.

It has worked. The amount of past due accounts has fallen from some $82 million in January 2012 to $52 million at the end of June. Some of that was written off as uncollectible.

Uncollected bills mean higher rates for other MSD customers, LeComb said. If black people are more likely to be sued for unpaid bills, it points to a bigger problem in the region.

“The real issue is with the rate at which poverty and unemployment affect the African-American population,� LeComb said.

But Pruitt said MSD’s stepped-up collection efforts and rising bills make it even more important that it adhere to diversity goals.

“All of this is being driven by the need to meet this EPA consent decree,� he said. “It’s all tied together. That’s why it’s extremely troublesome that a race of people who are paying for this are the ones who are being excluded from its benefits.�

LABOR DISPUTE

The NAACP and other groups criticized MSD this summer for waiving the workforce requirements for some contractors. They also accused MSD of not using workers enrolled in a training and recruitment program for which the district pays.

“I understand that no one wants to be in the position of having to be replaced because of the need for diversity,� Pruitt said last week. “But I also understand the perspective of the person who was locked out for the last decade and the trials and tribulations they have been going through and the need for them to be made whole and the need for the playing field to be level.�

LeComb defended MSD’s progress on ensuring a diverse workforce. He said one contractor was given leeway to use an existing crew rather than bringing in workers who weren’t used to working with other crew members. That affected seven projects, but LeComb said 60 out of 72 ongoing sewer projects are on track to obtain 30 percent of their labor hours from minority workers.

“Eighty-five percent of our projects today are on track to meet those goals,� LeComb said. That is putting “millions of dollars� into the pockets of African-Americans and other minorities working on MSD projects, he said.

It is sometimes “hard� for contractors to meet the goals, said Len Toenjes, president of the Associated General Contractors of Missouri. Still, it’s becoming increasingly common on work sites and “a lot of owners are realizing that’s the right thing to do,� he said.

“It’s created a different dynamic, but it’s something I think the contractors are becoming a little more accustomed to as a way of doing business,� Toenjes said.

MSD has since tightened up its guidelines to require contractors to follow set procedures to show “good faith� efforts to obtain a diverse labor force. Those discussions were ongoing before Pruitt and others raised the issue, LeComb said.

“If they’re not meeting their goals on projects, that’s something we’re going to take a look at in terms of future work with them,� he said.

Toenjes said MSD’s goals are achievable, it’s just a matter of mobilizing the labor pool and training enough workers to meet the demand.

“I think it’s something we can meet,� Toenjes said. “I think it’s just a case of us right now sort of getting back up off the floor. The work has been so far down for so long.�

LeComb said MSD had not utilized many workers from training and recruitment programs because the unions were able to supply most of the minority and female workers to meet its goals. That may begin to change now, LeComb added, as MSD projects continue to soak up the area’s labor pool.

Pruitt argued MSD changed its policy only after the NAACP and other groups pressured it to enforce the original agreement. Meanwhile, he said the NAACP has filed complaints with state and federal agencies and some laborers have retained attorneys.

“There are real efforts to bring about change, there are some real efforts to bring about diversity,� Pruitt said. “But it is an uphill battle.�

EDITOR'S NOTE:ÌýThis story was revised to clarify that theÌýThe Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District set workforce diversity goals unilaterally after a study it commissioned. An agreement MSD reached with the NAACP and other groups did not set the goals; it addressed how to reach them.Ìý