CORPORATIONS EXIST to provide a financial return to shareholders by producing and selling needed products and services. And communities where industrial corporations operate major facilities can reap significant economic benefits in terms of employment, wealth-generating investment and local spending on goods and services. Imperial's integrated petroleum refinery and petrochemical manufacturing plant in Sarnia, Ont., for example, has about 1,200 full-time employees with an annual payroll of approximately $85 million; spends around $75 million locally each year on materials and services and $50 million on maintenance and upgrading; and pays annual municipal taxes of $6 million.

A responsible company will also recognize that its host communities have legitimate expectations regarding the corporation's operations and overall behaviour. For example, they expect companies to operate safely, protect the environment, comply with laws and regulations, keep community members informed about matters that could affect their lives or economic wellbeing, and generally conduct business with adherence to high standards of honesty and integrity. In addition, some corporations accept that they have a responsibility to help improve the quality of life in the local community by supporting deserving groups and causes.

Imperial has long recognized its responsibility to meet the legitimate expectations of the communities in which it operates major facilities. "The company's primary responsibility is to be successful in all aspects of its relationships and business undertakings," says Bob Peterson, Imperial's chairman and chief executive officer. "Only by being financially successful can we generate wealth, provide jobs and contribute positively to society. But we care how we get results and how our employees behave in conducting the company's business, and we have a long tradition of supporting programs and activities that enhance the quality of life for Canadians in general and local communities in particular.

"Of course there have been times of stress, strain and even acrimony between local communities and the company or the petroleum industry as a whole," Peterson adds. "That's to be expected, given the nature of our operations and the substances we handle and produce. But we try very hard not only to meet community expectations on an ongoing basis but also to respond to people's legitimate concerns and specific issues as they arise."

Perhaps foremost among the concerns of communities that host major company facilities is the protection of people, property and the environment through safe and reliable operations. As Peterson notes, the petroleum industry deals with high volumes of volatile and potentially dangerous substances, both liquids and gases, and while incidents such as liquid spills, gas leaks, fires and explosions are very rare, they do represent a risk that must be constantly and vigilantly managed.

"The first operating priority at Imperial, bar none, is safety – nothing is more important," states Peterson. "Safety is also a major area of accountability for every operating job, and every project that could affect the safety of people or the environment goes through a severe assessment process. We're extremely proud that our safety record over the past 120 years is among the best in Canadian industry, and we intend to keep it that way."

The cornerstone of Imperial's commitment to safe, healthy and reliable operations is a program known as Operations Integrity. Rigorous, detailed and strictly applied, the program brings a disciplined approach to preventing operating incidents that can harm people or damage property or the environment. "The goal of Operations Integrity is, quite simply, zero incidents," says Peterson. "No other level of performance is acceptable. One injury, one spill, one substance release or fire is one too many."

Operations Integrity involves 11 elements, each of which includes guiding principles and expectations to be met and outlines operating practices that must be strictly adhered to in areas such as risk assessment and management, facility design and construction, training, documentation, inspection and maintenance, as well as incident reporting and analysis.

One element refers specifically to community awareness and emergency preparedness, stating that they are key factors in maintaining public confidence in the integrity of the company's operations. Apart from outlining the need for every facility to ensure that in the event of an incident, all necessary actions be taken for the protection of people and the environment, it requires each facility to have a system in place to recognize and respond to the community's expectations and concerns about company operations.

"Establishing and maintaining channels of two-way communication benefits both the local community and the company," says Peterson. "If our neighbours understand the safety measures and response procedures that are in place to protect them, their families, businesses and property, I think their trust and confidence are increased and their legitimate fears somewhat allayed. And for our part, knowing what people's specific concerns are enables us to address and respond to them."

While safety and emergency response are paramount, they constitute only part of Imperial's involvement with local communities. "It's important to recognize that we are part of the community and we care very much about it," says Warren Burton, site manufacturing manager at Imperial's Sarnia facility. "In addition to our 1,200 employees, we use as many as 1,500 local contractors on the site each year – almost all of these people live in this community. It's not a question of them and us – it's all us.

"The refinery has been a part of Sarnia since the 1890s and has played a major role in the development of the city and the surrounding area," says Burton, who serves as president and board chair of the Sarnia-Lambton Council for Economic Renewal. "I think people have high expectations of Imperial as a leader in the local business community, and we have the same high expectations of ourselves."

Like the Dartmouth refinery and other major company facilities, the Sarnia operation communicates with its neighbours through newsletters, brochures and occasional direct-mail correspondence. In addition, media news releases and newspaper advertisements are used to inform local residents about minor incidents or maintenance work that may increase traffic, noise and flaring; an annual report detailing the operation's safety, health and environmental performance and progress is distributed throughout the community; site tours are arranged for area schools; and, about once a year, an open house is held for residents not only of Sarnia but also of Port Huron, Michigan (across the St. Clair River), and includes presentations on safety and emergency response procedures.

Carolyn Harris, administrator of the Residence on the St. Clair, a retirement home situated just a few hundred metres from the Imperial plant, feels that the company genuinely cares about its responsibilities to its neighbours. "And I wouldn't say that about all corporations in the area," she says. The retirement home has about 70 permanent residents, many of whom have physical limitations. "If there were ever an emergency and we had to move people quickly," says Harris, "we'd face particular challenges." Still, she is confident that these challenges would be met successfully. "Imperial has worked with us," she explains. "Apart from organizing workshops for our staff and residents, refinery personnel have walked us through our various emergency response plans and drills. And I have a plaque by my bed with telephone numbers to call and actions to take for a number of different incidents. It's very helpful and reassuring." More reassuring still, perhaps, is that official records, which are available for the past 50 years, reveal that during the period covered, no incident at the site has resulted in the need to evacuate neighbours.

THE TURNER VALLEY area of Alberta, not far from Calgary, has been producing crude oil and natural gas on and off since 1914, when it was the site of Canada's first – albeit short-lived – "oil boom." It remains a significant natural-gas-producing area today.

Situated in the Turner Valley, the rural community of Millarville is home to Imperial's Quirk Creek gas-processing plant (where "raw" gas is cleaned of impurities and compressed for transportation by pipeline). It takes its commitment to the community very seriously. "For 20 years, the area has had a joint committee made up of members of the gas-producing companies and provincial environment and energy agencies as well as members of the local community," says Imperial's Cathy Roberts, who is responsible for the operation's community liaison. "The committee meets twice a year, and meetings are open to all local residents, who can raise any issue they wish. Minutes of the meetings are distributed to residents within 14 kilometres of the plant – to some 375 homes."

The Quirk Creek plant also publishes a community newsletter, which covers health, safety and environmental matters as well as activities at the facility. Says Roberts: "We mix news with general information about the plant, feeling that the more our neighbours know about our operation, the fewer concerns they'll have."

To increase its understanding of the views of local residents, the plant recently conducted a survey of some 400 community members. "We wanted to understand our neighbours better," says Roberts, "to know our strengths and weaknesses in communicating with them." The survey revealed that older people view the industry more favourably than younger people and that men are more favourably disposed to it than women. "We need to address this imbalance," says Roberts, "and now that we are aware of it, we can." The survey also established that residents feel very positive about Imperial's contributions and community support programs.

The Quirk Creek operation devotes considerable attention to local schools through a program that involves sponsoring student science fairs, providing regular plant tours and open houses for local schoolchildren as well as participation in school career days.

Educational partnerships are an integral part of Imperial's community relations efforts across the country, and the company has received wide recognition for its work in this area. It recently received a Lighthouse Award from the Calgary board of education for a partnership program with the city's Bowness High School aimed at enriching the academic curriculum, enhancing students' work skills and fostering social responsibility. And a similar program at Grand Centre High School, near Imperial's Cold Lake operation, won the company the prestigious Conference Board of Canada's Royal Bank Partners in Education Award for Alberta.

In place since 1996, the Grand Centre partnership focuses on enhancing the relevance of education and preparing students for the future, says Imperial's Sue Trefry, the program's coordinator. "We try to help students make the connection between school and the real world by helping them to develop their work skills and by broadening their exposure to potential careers."

AS IN ANY GOOD RELATIONSHIP, sensitivity, openness and honesty are essential in working with aboriginal communities on whose traditional lands some of Imperial's oil- and gas-producing operations are located, says Roy Steinhauer, manager of aboriginal affairs for Imperial's Calgary-based natural resources division. "The issues are sometimes very difficult, and often revolve around aboriginal traditions, culture and social imperatives, so it's important that we be aware of, and sensitive to, those considerations. We try very hard to demonstrate that we are trustworthy, consistent and ethical in our dealings with First Nations groups across the country and that we are willing to contribute to the community in a variety of ways."

Paula McMillan serves as aboriginal affairs and community liaison adviser at the Cold Lake operation. "This facility is built on the traditional hunting and trapping land of the Cold Lake First Nations," she says, "so it's critically important that we share a close and communicative relationship with the local aboriginal community. We need to understand any concerns it might have and work together to resolve them."

McMillan explains that one of the company's objectives is to provide employment to members of the local First Nations community. "To help us do this, we have established an internship program for aboriginal people that provides up to 24 months of paid work and includes training to develop the work skills required in permanent positions with the company."

Imperial's relationship with the aboriginal community in the Cold Lake area is not new. In the early years of the operation, more than two decades ago, Imperial worked with six local First Nations bands to form Pimee Well Servicing, an aboriginal-owned-and-operated company that today services not only Imperial's facility but also those of other oil companies.

Instrumental to Imperial's relationship with the First Nations and others living in the vicinity of Cold Lake is the Lakeland Industry and Community Association, which is made up of members of the First Nations, other area residents and communities, and representatives of industries operating in northeastern Alberta. The association's objectives are to resolve long-standing issues associated with the development of industry in the area, such as the environmental impact of operations and how new projects will be integrated into the community.

The remediation and reclamation of oil- and gas-producing sites after their productive life is over, wherever they are located, is obviously a significant concern for all. "Imperial's Bonnie Glen oilfield in Alberta, for example, is partly on land owned by four First Nations groups," says Steinhauer. "The field has been in production since 1951 and will be depleted by approximately 2005. The First Nations groups have been closely involved in our abandonment and land-reclamation plans, and we will make every effort to satisfy their expectations."

CLEARLY, THE COMMUNITY at large and local communities in particular have a right to expect any corporation to be a responsible citizen – to comply with laws and regulations, to operate safely, to safeguard the environment, to disclose all relevant information and to choose the path of highest integrity in all its business dealings.

Throughout its 120-year history, Imperial has tried to meet these expectations through a combination of formal policies and programs, regular ongoing communications and support for deserving causes in the community.

But as many residential neighbours of corporate operations will attest, it is not the formal programs that solidify relationships between communities and industries operating in their midst but the day-to-day interactions of people with people. Veronica Guitard reports that at the time of a recent temporary shutdown at Imperial's Dartmouth refinery, a shift foreman from the plant came to visit her mother to reassure her that there wasn't anything to worry about. "Someone from the refinery often calls or visits my mother when they think she might be concerned," says Guitard. "It's perhaps a small thing, but it's thoughtful." And that's what helps to make a good neighbour.

Illustration by Sara Tyson