Finalize Community Engagement Strategy and Plan
As it planned to go forward with the IGCC Genesee Project, the CPC Team used the information and findings from research, workshops, and EIA efforts, as well as continuing consultation initiatives to assure the interests and priorities of people in the surrounding communities and other stakeholders were addressed at every step of the development process and incorporated into considerations on the ultimate project design.
Planned consultation efforts in the next phase (from July 2009 through May 2010) when the project application was filed with the regulator included: presentations to and dialogue with small groups, open houses, meetings of standing advisory groups, meetings of community advisory task groups on specific topics, outreach to municipal leaders and other key groups, formal and informal research, and one-on-one consultation with community residents living within the mine permit expansion area.
Additionally, the CPC Team was readily available to all in the community with an interest in learning more about the project and sharing their views, interests and priorities with Team members.
Specific planned activities included:
- • Developing information materials as a resource for communication with area residents. Materials would be written at lay level and built to address key interests and concerns as identified through the research. The focus of the materials would be to help stakeholders understand the new technologies, regulatory process, and opportunities for input to influence project design.
- • Coordination of community communication efforts with project partners, to ensure effective and consistent consultation occurs on the part of all project partners. Building understanding with area residents includes creating a consistent approach to communication and consultation from all parties involved in the project.
- • One-on-one dialogue, including consultation with individual residents who may be affected by mine permit expansion plans and activities to better understand the benefits and offsets the community would expect in order to make the proposed project more acceptable to the community.
- • Hosting public open houses in fall 2009 and spring 2010 to share key learnings from the consultations. Open houses provided the opportunity for the Project Team to demonstrate the company is committed to the community and had been listening to the concerns as expressed to date. The intended outcome of the open houses was to have stronger indicators of what would make the proposed projects more acceptable to community members in terms of possible “offsets.”
- • Development of a new rural renewal initiative in cooperation with local governments. As identified in the research, community residents raised the concern with a loss of community as a result of the existing power facilities and expanding coal mine. The research presented an opportunity to continue deliberative dialogue with local governments about the opportunities to explore these concerns further and look for opportunities to support renewal initiatives as a community partner.
- • Conducting formal community research late fall 2009 to enable a clear understanding of the influences on community judgment of the project before it moves in to the regulatory approvals phase. This second round of research would pro?vide the community data to indicate whether there was an increased understanding of the IGCC CCS and amine scrubbing opportunities and the company’s ongoing commitment to the community.
