A new Hopewell

The Virginia city combined pollution reduction with efforts to revitalize the city and reconnect residents to the water

In the city of Hopewell, Virginia, Mayor Jasmine Gore and stormwater manager Joseph Battiata describe the city’s efforts to combine its pollution reduction goals with projects to revitalize the city and make it more livable for its residents.

In the 1970s, the city of Hopewell made national headlines after illicit dumping of the toxic pesticide Kepone sickened industrial workers and forced officials to shut down commercial fishing in the James River. Today, however, Hopewell is in the middle of a revitalization that is extending beyond businesses in the heart of the city, in an effort to reconnect residents with their local waters. A new 1,700-foot boardwalk on the Appomattox River—known as the Riverwalk—will eventually extend to the city marina, where it will also connect to a greenway established alongside a stream restoration in a neglected park. That project reduces pollution downstream in the Chesapeake Bay, while also making the outdoors more accessible and the city more livable for its residents. Listen to Mayor Gore and Battiata describe how these projects are helping Hopewell, and the lessons they share for local officials across the Chesapeake watershed.

• Produced by Will Parson
• Music/Audio: "Purple Light" by Blue Dot Sessions via FreeMusicArchive.org
• Special thanks to Jasmine Gore and Joseph Battiata