The Suncor refinery, located on Brighton Boulevard near Sand Creek in Commerce City, is the only major petroleum refinery in Colorado. On March 6th, 2020, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) announced a $9 million settlement for air pollution violations at Suncor, including the incident when catalyst ash fell from the sky in December 2019. Of that $9 million settlement penalty, $2.6 million is to be used for Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) to benefit the environment and public health of communities surrounding Suncor. The communities include neighborhoods in: North Denver, Southern Commerce City, and Southern Unincorporated Adams County.

CDPHE has been meeting with community organizations, leaders, and elected officials over the past several months to ensure community members are centered in this Supplemental Environmental Projects process. Information from this community engagement will be captured in the “request for applications ” document. The request for applications lays out the guidelines and priorities for potential projects, and will have a strong impact on the types of project applications submitted.

After the request for applications is developed and made public, an evaluation committee will review submitted applications and make project selections. The evaluation committee will have a staff member from CDPHE, a representative from Suncor, and 5-7 community members. Project selections will be made by December 31st, 2020.

CDPHE is looking to ensure the request for applications document and evaluation committee guidelines reflect community member priorities. Two community forums will be held to gather additional input from community members. If you can’t attend a community forum to share your ideas and perspectives, you can also take the short survey at this website.