Hamilton Sundstrand
Environmental Cleanup and Land Use Communications
Westminster, Colo.
Project Overview
An international aerospace manufacturing company with a facility in north Denver was required to begin testing for the presence of chemical vapors in homes near the facility. The chemicals migrated from the manufacturing site into a residential area through the groundwater, and rose up through the soil and into residential foundations. More than 70 homes were tested and ventilation systems were installed in half the homes.
Sigler Communications' Role
Hamilton Sundstrand retained Sigler Communications to develop a community relations program and plan and communications strategies that would inform and engage nearby homeowners, media, opinion leaders and elected officials about the environmental program. We served as the daily contact point for residents, elected officials and news media for seven years.
Sigler Communications’ involvement included spearheading public information sessions, producing bilingual fact sheets, serving as a liaison between medical and real estate experts and the community, coordinating personal briefings with key officials, conducting community relations interviews to identify information gaps and needs, briefing local media, providing daily media monitoring to the team, implementing a direct-mail program to keep neighbors abreast of developments and creating a 24-hour information hotline.
Deliverables
Answering questions about health concerns
Community newsletters in English and Spanish
Creating environmental fact sheets. Using risk communications to explain action levels and health effects.
Tracking property values and reporting results
Results
Hamilton Sundstrand successfully completed its remediation efforts and was issued a No Further Action status by the state and EPA. The communications efforts were credited with helping the company settle a class-action lawsuit that sought more than $400 million for less than $2 million. The land has since been redeveloped and now houses 200 new homes.