Suncor Settlement Community Process

We participated in 36 conversations with community leaders, community organizations, and elected officials from the areas around Suncor, resulting in a draft request for applications document and draft parameters for the evaluation committee. We also conducted four focus groups with community members to help ensure community perspectives are being accurately reflected in the developed materials.

• Two virtual community forums for residents of the areas around Suncor were held to discuss the Suncor settlement and resulting Supplemental Environmental Projects process.
   
  • A Spanish language virtual community forum with English interpretation was on September 23, 2020.
     
  • A second community forum, in English with Spanish Interpretation, was on September 26, 2020.
     
  • Both community forums covered the same topics. You can access the meeting notes from these community forums.
     
• A short survey in English and Spanish was also available through October 15, 2020 for community members unable to attend the community forums. This survey covered questions and topics similar to those explored during the community forums.
   
• Calls to seniors were also made.
   
• An evaluation committee with 11 members was formed, including 9 residents from the areas around the refinery, to review, score, and select applications for funding.

The money would be spent on projects that benefit the environment and public health of the communities around Suncor. The department prefers that Supplemental Environmental Projects relate to the underlying environmental violation, which in this case would be air pollution. Any preferences for project type are typically guided by community engagement for large Supplemental Environmental Projects like this one. CDPHE met with the surrounding communities as part of the Supplemental Environmental Project community engagement process to determine their priorities and the evaluation criteria for using these funds. 

Examples of ideas that came up during the community engagement process included:

• Restoration of natural areas, such as rivers.
   
• Urban restoration projects, like tree plantings or restoring park natural systems.
   
• Removal or mitigation of contaminated materials, such as contaminated soils, asbestos, and leaded paint.
   
• Installing solar power systems or connecting low income residents to renewable energy sources, such as solar coops or other innovative programs.
   
• More efficiently using energy, water, or other materials. Energy efficiency upgrades in buildings, home weatherization improvements, installation of equipment that reduces water usage, or the replacement of high emission gas or diesel equipment or vehicles with electric alternatives.
   
• Increasing community member awareness, understanding, and capacity on environmental issues, such as the connection between environmental pollutants and public health.
   
• Increasing community organization capacity to be involved in environmental work.
   
• Community environmental or public health liaisons or navigators.
   
• Installing pollutant monitors in partnership with communities, making the data readily available and transparent to community members, and identifying steps to take when pollutant levels are high.
   
• Increasing health equity and environmental justice in area communities.
   
• Research on impacts from environmental pollution on individual and community health.
   
• Mitigating the impact of environment pollutants on public health, such as through indoor air quality improvements (e.g. installing air filtration systems in buildings, schools, or homes).

This Supplemental Environmental Project funding could have gone to these or other types of projects that the community identifies as priorities for creating environmental or public health impacts.

Potential projects were evaluated by the Supplemental Environmental Project evaluation committee, including consideration for which geographic communities benefited. Priority went to projects that provided benefits to the areas surrounding Suncor. These priority areas included North Denver neighborhoods, neighborhoods in unincorporated Adams County, and Southern Commerce City neighborhoods near the Suncor refinery.