An oil and gas company facing a vociferous campaign over alleged health hazards at one of its terminals has allayed the fears of the local community with a series of measures designed to make its operations more transparent.
Phillips Petroleum was facing what it believed were unjustified protests about its gas terminal at Bacton in Norfolk that were damaging to its reputation and taking up large amounts of management time. But it says a three-year plan to address local residents’ concerns about secrecy and the company’s lack of community involvement has now virtually ended the complaints.
The US-based firm, which is the seventh-largest oil and gas company in the world with 38,000 employees in 38 countries and 400 staff in the UK, set up a community involvement plan in Bacton after a local campaigning group began calling for the terminal to shut.
Lynnda Robson, public affairs co-ordinator at Phillips Petroleum UK, said public perception of the terminal, built in 1969, had changed ‘from fairly warm to much less warm’ over the years as stories had begun to grow that it was a potential health hazard.
‘There was talk of emissions and potential explosions and because of the high security associated with such terminals, the perception was that it was a secretive and arrogant business that didn’t want involvement with the community,’ she said.
Phillips responded by commissioning a survey of more than 360 residents from villages near the terminal, carried out by a local independent company. It sent the survey findings to all residents and then formed a strategy.
‘The main grumble for people was that despite being next to a gas terminal they didn’t have access to mains gas in their area,’ said Robson. ‘But there were other concerns about noise, air quality and employment opportunities for local people. They also wanted better communication.’
As a result, Phillips, in conjunction with BP and Shell who also have terminals in Bacton, funded work to bring mains gas to homes within ten miles of the terminal. It also set up independent noise and air quality monitoring which it says gave the plant a clean bill of health, and drew up a code of practice to minimize the impact of lorries visiting the complex.
Regular tours of the terminal are now run, using a local resident as co-ordinator – and Phillips sponsors a yearly lunch at a local hotel for all people in the area over the age of 60.
The set-up cost of the programme was £35,000 ($51,000).
Robson claimed the changes had made a big difference to the company’s relations with the local community: ‘We now have regular interaction with the community where we can pick up on any emerging concerns’.
Local councillor Roy Haynes, chairman of the Bacton Gas Liaison Committee, which also includes parish councillors and the Environment Agency, said: ‘The committee works closely with all the companies that use the terminal. In my view Phillips is doing a good job.’