Former Commerce City sustainability manager Rosemarie Russo and her supporters say she was fired by city leaders after community protest notes she forwarded to the Suncor refinery鈥檚 Canadian headquarters angered oil company executives who then pressured the city to reprimand her.
Russo said in interviews Wednesday she was given a choice at a Sept. 3 city human resources meeting: resign and agree not to file a lawsuit in order to retain benefits and vacation pay, or be fired. Russo, hired in 2022 and formerly a sustainability manager for Fort Collins and Moab, Utah, chose to be fired, she said.
Suncor鈥檚 Calgary, Alberta executives were angry Russo had forwarded handwritten notes made by community members on paper posters set out , an event sponsored in part by Commerce City government. Community members鈥� notes directed anger at Suncor for with emissions that harm the health of residents, many of whom are minority and low-income residents of neighborhoods that are heavily impacted by big polluters.
The EPA had announced another round of alleged Suncor violations just before EcoFiesta.
The challenging notes angered Suncor鈥檚 Canadian executives, who then pressured their Commerce City executives to lean on Commerce City government, Russo and her supporters say. The community critiques apparently hit hard even though the city鈥檚 own 373-page sustainability action plan mentions Suncor pollution dozens of times and quotes residents saying 鈥淪uncor is killing us.鈥�
Russo said she had tried and failed to land meetings directly with Suncor executives to talk about the sprawling refinery鈥檚 outsize role in community emissions and health. During the 45-minute HR meeting, Russo said, city leaders told her she had acted unprofessionally and that she could not get along with staff. Those were bogus explanations, Russo added, saying she has received supportive emails from many city employees and managers.
鈥淢y whole job is to empower the community about how to affect policy changes. And so it was really crazy,鈥� Russo said.
Russo鈥檚 supporters on City Council and in community and environmental groups say her loss is devastating at a time when she was on the verge of completing applications for $17 million in Environmental Protection Agency grants to impacted communities, which could have transformed health and community involvement.
鈥淚t concerns me and it makes the city look bad,鈥� said City Councilwoman Renee Chacon, who has been a community activist on pollution and other inequity issues. 鈥淚t does look like Suncor has influence over something. It does look like we are not taking air pollution and our cumulative impacts of harm and pollution to our community seriously.鈥�
A spokesperson said Commerce City could not respond to questions about personnel matters, but said city officials 鈥渨ill continue to be committed to advancing the causes of sustainability and environmental justice in our community and across the region.鈥�
Suncor鈥檚 Colorado office did not respond to messages seeking comment about Russo鈥檚 departure or the letters she forwarded.
Adams 14 School Board member Lucy Molina has served on Commerce City鈥檚 Environmental Policy Advisory Committee and found Russo to be the community champion many activists and neighbors had been looking for.
鈥淚 believe this was one of the first times that the community had a voice,鈥� Molina said. 鈥淲hen she came on, she asked us what we wanted.鈥� For Russo to be let go, Molina said, 鈥淚 find it insulting, personally. It shows me the power that this industry has over our government. So it is pretty horrifying, honestly.鈥�
The city鈥檚 sustainability report notes that the industrial sector accounted for 57% of Commerce City鈥檚 total greenhouse gas emissions, and that Suncor, the only refinery in Colorado, accounted for nearly 90% of that portion.
The refinery, which produces gasoline for vehicle use in Western states, jet fuel for Denver International Airport and other petroleum-based products, is also a major source of toxic emissions and releases contributing to the Front Range鈥檚 violations of ground level ozone standards. Colorado state health officials, who issue permits setting limits on Suncor鈥檚 air and water pollution, have repeatedly investigated and cited the refinery for multiple violations of the Clean Air Act.
In early July, the EPA and state regulators hit Suncor with another round of pollution violation notices covering the past two years, that state officials vowed would set the refinery on a path to cleaner operations.
The alleged new violations, compiled in a 140-page report by the EPA鈥檚 regional office and released in July, accused Suncor of more releases of benzene and other toxins into the air and water around the Commerce City plant. The newest violations included some in areas the EPA had not pinpointed in previous inspections.
鈥淭he Commerce City refinery has been subject to state air enforcement actions by the (state Air Pollution Control Division) annually for at least the past 10 years,鈥� the EPA emphasized in its July notice of violations.
Colorado GreenLatinos has joined community groups and state officials to seek tighter restrictions on Suncor and other Adams County polluters. The nonprofit 鈥渨orked very effectively鈥� with Russo, director Ean Tafoya said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e sad to see her go.鈥�
Melissa Burrell, co-chair of the nonprofit 350 Colorado鈥檚 action committee on Suncor, said the community鈥檚 heartfelt notes from the EcoFiesta posters were accurate depictions of the health 鈥渁trocities鈥� the refinery鈥檚 emissions have subjected Commerce City to. For Russo to be reprimanded for doing her job of passing along those messages to leaders, Burrell said, means 鈥渓ocal government is in the pocket of industry.鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a huge injustice,鈥� she said.
Freelance reporter London Lyle contributed to this report.
Michael Booth is a reporter for the Colorado Sun. His work frequently appears on-air at 皇冠网址 91.5 FM and online at 皇冠网址.org. Contact Michael at booth@coloradosun.com.
