Frontline Corporate Communications

Frontline Corporate Communications (FCC) is a Canadian PR company that specialises in areas such as crisis management, risk communication, media training and public relations.

On its website FCC states that it works for clients in North America in "high-concern, low-trust situations, including: Environmental risks and clean-ups; Product recalls; Workplace hazards; Health concerns; Accidents and emergencies; Labour disputes; Plant shutdowns; Liability claims; Community protests; [and] Government compliance." 

On its website, FCC notes a risk communications training partnership with GlobalTox. 

Fallon Childhood Leukemia Cluster
In 2001, the US Navy Environmental Health Center (NEHC) contracted FCC to assist with the Navy’s public relations response to the Fallon, Nevada  childhood cancer cluster.

In 2000, a cluster of childhood leukemia cases had been diagnosed in rural Fallon, Nevada, home of Naval Air Station Fallon and the US Navy’s famous TOPGUN combat pilot training program. By 2002, 15 children in a town of 8000 residents were diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a cancer of the immune system. The CDC enrolled 11 Fallon case families in a study of chemical and viral exposures that was ultimately inconclusive.  Media reports in spring and summer 2001 reflected community concerns about the possible involvement of pollution from the TOPGUN air base and the base's use of JP-8 military jet fuel.

Documents detailing FCC's relationship with the US Navy were obtained by medical journalist Bryant Furlow. In July 2001, FCC submitted a project proposal to NEHC for a two-day risk communication planning session, estimating a fee of $17,475.00. According to a 2001 Navy Pentagon situation brief, FCC was “experienced with DOD environmental/health issues,” would help “improve Navy credibility,” and could help the Navy prepare a public relations response for a predicted failure to identify the cause of the cancer cluster. According to the Navy Pentagon brief, the Navy subsequently approved an additional $60,000.00 for FY2001 payments to FCC.

In August 2001, according to a Navy community relations strategic planning summary memo, FCC helped prepare a strategic communications plan for the Navy, reviewed Navy web sites for “empathy and caring messages” about the cancer cluster, and advised the Navy on reframing media coverage of concerns about jet fuel as a “fuel" issue rather than a “Navy” issue. FCC also helped prepare Navy officials for interviews with the television news show 60 Minutes, providing "talking points" and organizing mock interviews.

According to the community relations planning memo, FCC coordinated the Navy's public relations efforts with those of the City of Fallon, and participated in weekly conference calls with Nevada state government officials and R&R Partners, a Reno, Nevada PR firm employed by the City of Fallon.

Related Documents
(These documents were provided by a medical investigative journalist Bryant Furlow; see for more details).
 * Frontline Corporate Communications, "Project Proposal NAS Fallon", July 26, 2001. (Pdf)
 * U.S. Navy (Naval Air Station - Fallon, Nevada), "Risk Communication and Community Relations:Strategic Planning and Partnersing Session", August 9, 2001. (Pdf)
 * U.S. Navy "Fallon Leukemia Cluster and Related Issues", September 12, 2001. (Pdf)

Personnel
FCC staff include:
 * Terry Flynn, President
 * Trevor Smith Diggins, Vice-President & General Manager
 * Shelley Facey, Business Manager
 * Kelly Anderson, Communication Specialist
 * Alma Black Moore, Community Relations

Clients
On its website FCC states that its clients from over "the past several years" have included (accessed June 2006):


 * Adfarm/Bayer Crop Science
 * Canadian General Tower
 * Challenger Motor Freight
 * City of Kitchener
 * City of Guelph
 * City of Waterloo
 * COMCARE Health Services
 * CP Rail Systems
 * Cutler-Hammer, Eaton Yale Ltd.
 * Degussa Chemicals
 * Department of National Defence (Canada)
 * Dofasco Inc.
 * Exxon Chemical Company
 * Frigidaire/Eureka Canada
 * GlobalTox International Consultants Inc.
 * Health Canada Contaminated Sites Division
 * Health Canada Water Quality Bureau
 * Health Canada First Nations & Inuit Branch
 * Henkel Canada Ltd. (now Cognis Corporation)
 * IPEX Inc.
 * KidsAbility Foundation
 * Kitchener/Waterloo Humane Society
 * Long Manufacturing Ltd.
 * Ministry of the Environment (Ontario)
 * Municipality of Brockton (Walkerton)
 * NASA Plum Brook Station (Focus Group Inc.)
 * New York State Electric & Gas
 * Novartis Canada Inc.
 * Ontario Home Care Association
 * Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth (now the City of Hamilton)
 * Region of Niagara
 * Region of Waterloo
 * Region of York
 * St. Clair District Catholic School Board
 * St. Joseph's Hospital/St. Mary's Hospital
 * Sudbury Soils Study (Cantox Environmental)
 * Tree Canada Foundation
 * Timiskaming Health Unit
 * Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada
 * U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventative Medicine
 * U.S. Army Defense Distribution Depot
 * U.S. Army Defense Supply Center Richmond (DSCR)
 * U.S. National Guard Bureau
 * U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine
 * U.S. Navy Environmental Health Center (NEHC)
 * U.S. Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada
 * Vinyl Council of Canada
 * Waterloo Region Education & Public Network(WREPNet)

Contact Details
Frontline Corporate Communications Inc. 650 Riverbend Drive Kitchener, Ontario, Canada N2K 3S2 Phone: (519) 741-9011 Fax: (519) 741-9323

Toll-free US & Canada: Phone: 1-888-848-9898 Fax: 1-888-848-9897 Web: http://fcc.onthefrontlines.com

Other SourceWatch Resources

 * GlobalTox

Presentations By Frontline Communications

 * Ronald W. Brecher (GlobalTox) and Trevor Smith Diggins (Frontline Corporate Communications), "Do You Hear What I Hear: Overcoming Literacy, Numeracy and Perception Barriers In Communicating Environmental and Public Health Risk", Science Forum on Brownfields Redevelopment, April 5, 2006, Halifax Nova Scotia (Pdf)