Strolling along a winding path at the Southern Gateway Nature Park along the Tuscarawas River in Ohio, one can easily forget the site’s history and status as a former Superfund site. Virginia bluebells dot the riverbanks in spring, milkweeds attract pollinators in summer and switchgrass waves tall and golden in the fall, challenging the notion that brownfields must always remain brown—and challenging the notion that commercial value is found only with development. Through projects such as this, the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) encourages new visions for remediated sites, visions that encompass economic, social and ecological health and prove that brownfields are a tangible testing ground for the triple bottom line.

The Southern Gateway Nature Park has seen dramatic transformation in recent years. The former Alsco Aluminum Manufacturing site included a warehouse, deteriorating lot, floodplain, and a National Priorities List site in Gnadenhutten, Ohio. Atlantic Richfield (a BP-affiliated company) then inherited the liability. But imagination and a commitment to both community and environment allowed a new future to emerge. BP invited WHC and the village of Gnadenhutten to assist with their vision for the site in 2000. Moving forward from that meeting, the partners weaved a harmonious blend of greenspace restoration and economic development into this small town in rural, south central Tuscarawas County, Ohio. Walt Hufford, business portfolio manager with Atlantic Richfield, has been the project’s champion from the start. ...

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